


Hate the Game

by lostlilsnail



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Basically a bunch of dumb kids play a dumb video game, Bullying, But like in such an over the top mustache twirling way it's more laughable than anything, F/F, Homophobia, Humor, Okay and also a little mad, Super OOC Cora, When Regina Mills feels slighted she doesn't get mad, she gets even
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2019-09-06 01:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16822483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostlilsnail/pseuds/lostlilsnail
Summary: Emma Swan just wants to survive her sophomore year and sometimes play a silly computer game with her friends after school, which she doesn't think is asking a lot. But of course life is never that simple. She winds up being personally targeted by notorious bully James Nolan, having to work on an important project for her Econ class with a girl who may or may not want her dead, and suffers through nonstop harassment from some jerkwad player online who apparently has nothing better to do than stalk her relentlessly.Whelp, nobody ever said high school was easy.A goofy gay story about some goofy gay kids.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This story is very light and very silly and very over the top. If you're looking for something plot heavy or super grounded in reality maybe give it a miss?
> 
> Anyways, get ready to enter CRINGE CITY, kiddos. It's going to be an embarrassing ride.

Badass warrior princess Emma Swan is an unstoppable beast. She hacks through her enemies without hesitation, cutting them down before they can even think about fighting back. Knights and rogues alike quiver in fear as soon as she takes to the field.

She is the Swan Princess.

Well, SwanPrincess24 (her favorite number is fourteen but that was taken).

Anyways, SwanPrincess24 and her guild are notorious throughout the servers of the Enchanted Forest. An exclusive club of lady do-gooders. Always willing to lend a newbie a hand, always ready to help out a struggling player. The White Knights Guild is friend to all (except for James and his stupid 'Fight Club' Guild because he's an idiot asshole and everybody hates him and his stupid face and he totally doesn't even get the point of that movie anyways).

Where there is injustice, the White Knights shall be there to fight it.

Especially when there's rare loot involved.

-

"You sure you don't want to wait for anybody else?" Emma pops her lips as she trails her avatar after her friend's. It's late on a school night so, as usual, there's a noticeably smaller crowd in the fictional world of their game.

"Who knows when Mary Margaret is gonna be finished with her Ken doll," Ruby's voice sounds over her headphones, "and Belle said after she's done studying she's gonna call it a night so she'll be well rested for that test."

"Aren't you in her class?" Emma wrinkles her nose, following Ruby's character towards the cave they discovered last play session. "Shouldn't you be studying?"

"Eh, we've been working on this unit for three weeks." Emma can practically hear the shrug in Ruby's voice. "If I don't know the material by now I figure that's more a reflection on the teacher than me."

"Wow," Emma drawls into her mic. "Is that what you tell your grandmother when you show her your report card?"

"Oh sweet, naive Emma. You think she can beat me to the mailbox? She hasn't seen my report card since middle scho-" Ruby cuts off suddenly. "Hey-oh, who is that?"

They're in an isolated area of the map far from the towns and villages that dot the fictional landscape, so they haven't run into many players tonight. Now though, just by the mouth of the cave they're planning on tackling, a female avatar stands.

Emma clicks on the newcomer so that her profile pops up. A lot of the optional info is blocked so all she gets out of it is that the person is a black mage, they've been a member for just under two weeks, and that their username is EvilQueen2003.

"Woah, this is crazy. She's pretty high leveled considering she's barely been around."

"Who cares about that." Ruby lets out a long, low whistle. "She's hot. I'm into that."

Emma snorts. "Rubes, it's a blurry computer model."

"I have a good imagination. I can fill in the blanks. Let's invite her along so we have something nice to look at in the cave."

Though she doesn’t appreciate how much Ruby can sound like an dumb frat boy sometimes, Emma can admit it would be nice to have another player around while the rest of the gang is MIA. Belle especially. So, even as she's rolling her eyes at Ruby's idiocy, Emma opens the general text chat.

 **SwanPrincess24:** Wanna tackle the cave as a group w us?

The words pop up above her avatar for everyone in the immediate vicinity to see.

...

No response.

Nothing.

The mage turns though, and heads towards the mouth of the cave, so Emma takes that as a 'yes' and moves her character to follow.

Ruby chuckles in her ear. "Not very chatty is she?"

"Guess not." Emma follows at a cautious distance. There are always assholes like James who are ready to attack fellow players for no reason. Best to be on guard.

"Hello?" Mary Margaret's soft voice fills her ears.

"Look who's back," Ruby shouts loud enough for Emma to wince. "How was the date, hot shot? Did you wear your finest poodle skirt? Was there one milkshake with two straws enjoyed at our homely, local diner? Some heavy over the clothes petting at the town drive-in?"

"Leave her alone," Emma manages without laughing. Mary Margaret is an incredibly old fashioned grandmother trapped in the body of a modern day teenager, it's true, but Emma can't bring herself to tease the girl over it. She's too soft and innocent and pure. It's like kicking a puppy.

Ruby on the other hand has no such qualms.

"For your information," Mary Margaret grumbles, "we had a fantastic dinner at a beautiful restaurant and he was a perfect gentleman."

"Obviously he is if you're home by ten." Ruby gags. "Lame."

"I'm glad you had fun," Emma cuts in before the bickering can start.

She's only half paying attention to the game now. So far the caves have been nothing but low level goblins and this 'Evil Queen' has some pretty intense fire spells that have left her and Ruby trailing her rather uselessly with their swords.

"Thank you." Just listening to her voice Emma knows Mary Margaret is glowing. "He really was so sweet."

"He's pretty," Ruby begrudgingly allows. "Too bad about the evil twin though, you sure you wanna marry into that?"

"We're fifteen," Mary Margaret splutters, scandalized.

Ruby's boisterous laughter is loud and harsh over the mic. Emma lowers the volume on her headphones.

"Nevermind," Mary Margaret mutters. "Where are you guys anyways? The teleport brought me to the edge of the river but I don't see you."

"Can't teleport in caves or dungeons, newb," Ruby drawls.

"We don't use that language unironically," Emma sharply reminds them and her friends laugh. "Follow upstream towards the mountains. The cave is pretty easy to spot. Let me know if you can't find it."

"We made a new friend," Ruby adds.

"Ooh," Mary Margaret coos, "who?"

"This hot fire chick. She won't talk to us though." Ruby shuffles about over the connection. "Hold on, I'm gonna try again."

"Don't piss her off," Emma warns. Ruby can be a bit off putting when you're not used to her. She's a lot to handle on a good day.

"A black mage is something we don't have, Ems. If she plays frequently enough we should lock her down and complete the team. Think about it, next time James tries to fuck with us she can just light his ass on fire. That's the dream."

Emma follows from a healthy distance as Ruby gets her avatar all up in the black mage's business.

 **MissRidingHood:** So, u play often?

"Oh my god," Emma groans. "You worded it like a bad pickup line, you loser."

"I don't even want to know," Mary Margaret says. She's still far enough away she can't see the chat bubble, lucky her.

No response from the Queen. She merely keeps moving forward, shooting line after line of fire towards the onrushing goblins before Ruby and Emma can even think to lift their weapons and make contact.

"Wow, okay," Ruby says.

 **MissRidingHood:** Do u have a guild?

Still nothing.

Emma snickers.

"I'm in," Mary Margaret says.

"Just follow the dead goblins," Emma replies. "Hurry and you can watch Rubes get completely shut down with me. It's awesome."

"I got this," Ruby spits back. "You know I can charm the pants off of anybody. She's just playing hard to get."

 **MissRidingHood:** We R looking 4 a black mage and u seem pretty good.

_EvilQueen2003 has logged off_

"Bitch!" Ruby screeches when the Queen’s character disappears and Emma busts out laughing.

"Oh did I miss her?" Mary Margaret's frown is clear in her voice as her avatar finally catches up to the group.

"Wow, Rubes, you charmed her right off of the internet," Emma manages through her giggles. "Inspirational, really. Tell me again how you're still single?"

"Shut up."

Without the Queen's fire to hide behind, warding off goblins is a lot more tedious. They make their way through the winding tunnel path though and eventually come across a massive stone door, etched with a fictional language that glows with a blue mystical light.

"Du-du-dungeon," Rubes sings with glee.

"We should wait until everyone can come on and tackle it together," Emma says.

"Yeah," Mary Margaret agrees, "it's pretty late anyhow."

They say their good nights and log off for bed.

-

Emma does her best to stifle another obnoxious yawn while Mr. Glass drones on and on about the wonders of economics. She's gotta stop letting Ruby talk her into staying up so late playing that dumb game. It's making focusing on schoolwork near impossible.

"We only have about fifteen minutes left so instead of starting the next segment why don't you pair up with your stock project partners and work on anything you're behind on."

The class groans and grumbles as students slowly comply, kids pushing past one another to switch seats and group up. Emma doesn't move. Like always, her partner comes to her.

Regina Mills is a bit of an enigma. She's an obnoxious know-it-all during class, but as soon as the bell rings she clams up and keeps to herself, a complete and total loner.

Originally, Emma had cursed her rotten luck when Glass had randomly assigned partners and they'd been paired together. She had about a half dozen acquaintances in class she'd have preferred. Not to mention Regina seemed like a real hard ass about work ethic and grades. The stocks project is a semester long assignment and you didn't want to get stuck with a workaholic asshole.

But pretty quickly Emma found that working with Regina isn't so bad. Sure, she's focused and takes her schoolwork seriously. But she did indulge Emma on more than one occasion.

They're supposed to be tracking and recording the rising and falling stock values of a handful of companies over the course of a semester and while most groups went for Google and Apple, Emma had been rather enthusiastic about picking out her favorite snack and candy companies. Surprisingly, Regina hadn't resisted. She'd merely rolled her eyes before nodding along.

She does that a lot when she's talking to Emma.

They trade their notes from the week back and forth for a few minutes, but they're done relatively quickly. Regina makes a point to keep them as up to date as possible. It's a new feeling for Emma, not having to scramble around to get everything ready for class in the eleventh hour, but not necessarily one she doesn't enjoy.

Anyways, there's still a good ten minutes left of class when they run out of busywork.

Emma slumps back in her chair and heaves a heavy breath as she watches Regina across from her, dutifully writing something or other in her homework planner.

"So, got any weekend plans?"

Regina blinks at her blankly. "Um, no. Why?" She rolls her pencil between her fingers, fidgeting.

"Uh," Emma shrugs, put off by the nervous response, "being friendly?"

"Oh." Regina nods. "Right." Her eyes fall back on her notebook. "What about you?"

"Just hanging out with the usual suspects. Nothing exciting. And you know," Emma says very solemnly, "dutifully tracking stocks and bonds."

Regina just huffs and rolls her eyes while Emma grins. They sit in companionable silence for awhile, Regina reading from her notebook while Emma doodles a cat in her own, until their time eventually runs out.

Itching for freedom, Emma's on her feet with her stuff gathered up before the bell even finishes ringing. "See ya Monday," she throws back over her shoulder, but leaves before she gets an answer. She's only got one thing on her mind right now, the fact that it's Friday.

A whole weekend to fry whatever is left of her brain cells however she pleases.

No greater joy in the whole of the world.

-

Emma grumbles as the goblins surround her, jumping about her avatar and prodding it with their tiny spears. They don't do much damage, but there's enough of them she could be in trouble if she's not careful. "Belle, can I have some juice? I'm kinda locked in over here."

"Maybe if you weren't so slow," Ruby taunts over her mic, "you wouldn't keep getting swarmed.”

"Maybe if you weren't such an a-"

"Ladies," Belle calmly cuts off Emma's snotty response with her smooth, soft voice, "let's behave." She casts a protective shield on Emma and then returns to buffing up Ruby's character because she totally plays favorites.

Shield in place, Emma is able to push through the swarm and rejoin her friends. They've been at it for a little over an hour, tackling the dungeon one room at a time. The end is in sight and Emma is beyond ready to slay whatever fantastical beast is guarding the treasure and warp out of there so she can log off and have some dinner.

"So, I have a question." Mary Margaret's voice is more timid than usual and Emma is instantly on high alert. "David really enjoys playing, but he hates being in the same guild as a bully like James."

"That wasn't a question," Emma sighs out, already knowing where this is going.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Mary Margaret squeaks. "What do you guys think?"

"I dunno," Ruby drawls, "we kinda got a ladies vibe going on."

"It would really piss off James though," Emma admits. She might not love the idea of a near stranger coming in to mess up the group dynamic, but she certainly loves the idea of how annoyed it would make the town asshole.

"Yeah, and then he would come after us even more," Ruby counters.

That's probably true.

"David's class is a knight," Mary Margaret chimes in, a little whiny and a lot desperate. "We don't have one. He'll help balance out the team."

"Yeah, but-" Ruby starts but Belle cuts her off.

"They harass us because we're girls and close their group off to female players. The one's they're not interested in, at least. Do we really want to be like that?"

"No," Ruby grumbles, petulant like a small child. "We don't want to be like that."

"Emma?" Belle prompts.

"It's fine by me as long as you guys don't make the chat all mushy and gross with declarations of love."

Mary Margaret giggles. "We'll keep it strictly professional."

And so ShinyArmoredHero joins the ranks of the White Knights. It's a little awkward at first. At least it is for Emma. Ruby is ready to rib anyone and Belle is naturally quiet, but Emma has some trouble adjusting to the new voice on her headphones, kind as David is. It takes her some time to get back to normal, but by the time the weekend is over they're all jiving fairly well together. Even if Emma keeps rolling her eyes every time she has to hear a, "Great shot, sweetie!" or a, "I've got your back, darling!"

Seriously, sometimes it's like a bad romance novel.

-

Emma sits on her desk, back to the chalkboard, feet on her chair. Mary Margaret sits at the desk behind hers and they chat as usual before class starts.

"It's going to be right when summer vacation starts, just outside of town," Mary Margaret presses. "We could all go."

"You really want your friends to crash your cute fairground date?" Emma chuckles. "You know Ruby will make it hell for the both of you."

"That's why I'm counting on you to keep her in check." Mary Margaret pouts a bit. "Come on. We never all hang out offline anymore. It will be good to have some face to face interaction outside of school that involves the whole group."

The bell rings before Emma can argue any farther. She settles properly in her seat and half-listens to the teacher greet their class while lamenting the fact that in a few weeks she's going to be dragged an hour and a half out of town to suffer through an overpriced and under staffed carnival.

Yay.

-

James finds her during lunch while Emma is sat between Ruby and Belle, pretending not to notice how they keep catching each other's eyes before shyly ducking their heads. Even if she's happy that they're getting closer to working out the whatever-it-is that's between them, it's pretty nauseating to be caught in the middle of. And Emma's stomach drops as it suddenly hits her that between them and Mary Margaret and David, this is going to be her life now.

The perpetual fifth wheel.

Oh god.

After that sudden realization James’ assholery comes as an almost welcome intrusion.

"See you ladies finally caved and found a big, strong man to protect you." He's standing over their table, grinning down at them like a total douche, Victor Whale and Killian Jones at his back. They almost look like a washed up boy band. "At least maybe now you'll actually be a challenge."

Ruby scoffs. "As if we weren't already kicking your ass every time you try and start shit."

Actually, when you tallied up the numbers they were fairly evenly matched at the moment. The boys would harass low level players and the girls would swoop in to put a stop to it, the boys would ambush them later in return and so on in an endless cycle.

Emma isn't about to admit that though, so she sneers up at them and nods along.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Ruby asks. "You're bordering on obsessive now. Honestly, we're all getting a little embarrassed for you."

James' grin only seems to widen. "We'll see how much of a difference your new shield makes." He backs away with his friends and leaves the girls to huff and pout over what's left of their lunches.

"What a dick," Ruby sighs out, chin in palm.

Even Belle nods at that.

-

Glass gives them the last eight or so minutes of class to 'catch up' with their partners for the stocks project yet again. Emma's starting to think it's just an excuse to cover up the fact his lesson plans keep running short. Not that she minds, free time is free time.

"I caught some of your drama from across the lunchroom today." Regina's at the desk next to her again, though she's got most of her attention on whatever impossible math equations are spread out before her while she speaks.

"Ugh, don't remind me." Emma scoffs, leaning back in her chair, hands behind her head. "Nolan is such an ass."

Regina hums her agreement, still not looking up. "Hard to believe he and David are related, let alone twins."

"Tell me about it." Emma's brow furrows after a moment. "You're in my lunch period?"

Regina shrugs. "Sometimes."

"Cryptic," Emma lets out through a laugh.

"I spend a lot of time in the library." Regina clears her throat. "Anyways, we should meet up this weekend."

Emma blinks. "Yeah?" Regina's always seemed to tolerate Emma at best, it's not as though they've ever had plans to hang out before.

"For the project," Regina clarifies, apparently sensing her confusion. "We need to start making our graphs."

Oh man.

"Can't we do that at the end?" Emma whines. "It's all just typing in numbers, it's not like it will take that long."

"You want to scramble to finish the night before?" Judging by the snotty look that overtakes her features, Regina is less than impressed. "If we get the meat of it started now, we'll only have to do light maintenance until the end of the year."

All Emma can do is glare. "Why do you have to be all efficient and sensible all the time?"

Condescension oozes from Regina's tight smile. "Must be in my blood."

"Sure."

"So, Saturday?"

Emma scratches at her neck with a grimace. Honestly, sacrificing time with her friends to input data about stocks sounds like the worst torture imaginable, but it would be pretty shitty to refuse, no? Emma hadn't asked for hyper anal Regina Mills as a partner, but Regina hadn't asked for slacker extraordinaire Emma Swan either. Everyone's making sacrifices.

"All right, fine. You win. We'll shoot for the damn 'A'. Though I still maintain you're really underestimating the hearty stability of a solid 'B'."

Regina rolls her eyes, but she's totally fighting back a smile so Emma figures she isn't in too much trouble.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay guys," Emma reminds them all over the chat, "I have to be at the library by two so make sure I'm outta here no later than one-thirty."

"Dude, we got it," Ruby drawls, "you're a broken record over there."

"I'm just trying to be smart." Emma absently fiddles with the volume on her headphones. "Regina is not the kind of girl you want to piss off."

"She has been known to hold a grudge," Mary Margaret says, no doubt remembering the Preschool Incident.

Emma hadn't been around back then, but she's heard the legends.

Basically, Mary Margaret and Regina were sandbox besties and one day Regina shared her greatest secret. She thought that Daniel Colter was nice and probably didn't have cooties like the rest of the boys in class. Mary Margaret had a big mouth and everybody knew by recess. Regina buried Mary Margaret's color-by-numbers worksheet in the sandbox and never spoke to her again.

It was all very dramatic.

"Are we gonna get going or what?" Ruby whines.

They fall into their usual routine at her prompting. Since Emma only has so much time, they're spending their session together wrapping up quests and plotting where their adventure will take them next. David really is fitting in better than Emma could have expected, and things are going smoothly.

That is, of course, until OneManArmy shows up in town.

"Oh dear," David sighs sadly into his mic.

"Kill the traitor!" Emma hears muffled in the background as soon as OneManArmy's beefy avatar starts hacking into his brother's character.

"Uh," she winces as realization hits, "are you guys in the same room?"

"We share a bedroom," David sheepishly explains.

"Yikes," Ruby says, though she sounds more amused than sympathetic. "That's rough, buddy."

"I'll save you, sweetie!" Mary Margaret dramatically cries.

Emma rolls her eyes, cheeks burning. Honestly.

The rest of James' guild shows up then though, and there's not really time to be embarrassed. There's a battle to win.

For the next half hour, their screens are nothing but chaos, their chat filled with frantic shouting. Potions are thrown and spells are cast and Emma curses as her best armor starts to degrade from James' stupid fucking sneak attack with his stupid fucking overpowered legendary sword.

**OneManArmy:** So much 4 the upgrades huh???

Emma grits her teeth, waiting until she's a bit free of the fray before angrily typing a response.

**SwanPrincess24:** Y don't we fight using weapons we didn't buy w Mommy's stolen credit card?

**OneManArmy:** Ur rite. Not fair since u don't have 1 ;)

"Woah!"

Emma's not sure which of her friends the exclamation comes from. It might be all of them at once. But the angry protests sounding off in her ears are distant and muffled. She just sits and blinks at the screen, wondering, of all things, when James had cared to learn anything about her beyond the game.

"Not okay," David's stern voice snaps her out of her brief distraction. "That's way over the line."

A muffled, "Fuck off, dude," can be heard in the background of his connection.

Emma's cheeks burn at the realization that everyone is awkwardly waiting for her to say something. The two groups have always been at each other's throats, but the trash talking has never extended quite so far as this. 

"Emma?" Belle.

"You okay?" Mary Margaret.

"You're not gonna take that shit, are you?" Ruby.

Words aren't coming. No angry retort or scathing insult. Emma honestly just feels kinda…numb about it. More embarrassed than anything. So instead of typing, she wrinkles her nose and starts hacking away at James' avatar with renewed fervor. Luckily, instead of pushing any further, Emma's friends seem to take the hint and move to have her back at once.

They tear into James's guild, blasting and slashing and wasting all their best support items that they've been saving just to get him and his lackeys the fuck off of their screens.

Eventually the boys run off with their tails between their legs, but for once the chat is silent with their victory. Nobody says anything, thank god, but there's a weight in the air and Emma shifts uncomfortably in her seat. James didn't hurt her feelings, not really. Sure, it wasn't particularly cool of him to say it, but, well, she expects that kind of comment from a jackass.

Maybe a couple years ago it would have bothered her. Back when she'd moved around too much to have friends and her grades were all over the place and having a computer to mess around on with her buddies would have been some kinda insane pipe dream. But now she does have a computer. And friends. And a decent report card. And a foster mother that smiles at her like she really means it. One who says she'll always have a home as long as she wants it…

So she's not hurt by what he said, no.

But the aftermath of it? That's what fucking sucks. Her friends all listening in, silent in their rooms as they likely strain their ears to try and decipher if she's crying. It's…

Humiliating. The pity she can't see from the solitude of her room but can hear in the silence of her headphones. It's humiliating, just like James intended it to be.

Emma swallows, her face feeling as though it's on fire. "Uh-" her voice cracks.

And then Belle--beautiful, wonderful, better-friend-than-Emma-could-ever-deserve Belle--says, "Aren't you supposed to be at the library?"

As soon as relief from the topic change fills Emma, the cork of realization pops and it drains away. Her eyes dart to the clock on her desk.

"Oh shit, oh fuck, oh shit."

"That's a dollar for the swear jar," Mary Margaret sighs as Emma frantically scrambles out of her chair.

Ruby snorts. "More like twenty."

"Oh shit. I gotta go guys, sorry-" Emma's certain she's logged out before the whole sentence reaches her friends but she doesn't have the time to worry about manners. She rips off her headphones and tosses them to her desk where they clatter onto the keyboard. "Shit. Shit. Shit." Emma hops about her room on one leg, valiantly doing her best to get both a shoe and her jacket on at the same time.

"Crap. Crap. Crap."

"Everything okay?" Ingrid calls from the living room as Emma stampedes down the stairs in a graceless flurry.

"Gotta go to the library," Emma breathlessly shouts to her foster mother, pausing only to wrench the door open. "Be back soon, bye!"

She slams the door shut behind her and scrambles to hop on the old bike she's allowed to use by the garage. "Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap," she chants as she furiously pedals.

Emma makes it halfway down the street before she realizes she doesn't have her backpack.

"You were right," Ingrid hums when Emma stomps back into the house, "this is very soon."

"Hilarious!" Emma screeches while she wrestles her backpack on.

"Thank you."

It's the last thing she hears when she slams the door shut once more.

Hopefully for good this time.

-

Emma doesn't bother with her chain lock. She just shoves her bike into the rack in front of the library and darts inside.

Please. Please. Please. Please. _Please_.

There are plenty of people perusing the shelves and enjoying quiet time with their books in the lounge chairs, but there's not a single person sitting at the reserved study tables where Regina had promised to meet her.

…

Fuck.

…

Hey, it's entirely possible Regina is also--Emma peeks at her phone to check the time-- an _hour and forty-five minutes_ late too. Right?

….

_Fuck_.

Whelp.

Emma gets to deal with this on Monday.

Yaaaaaaay.

-

When Emma walks into Econ, Regina stares straight ahead at the chalkboard and pretends not to notice her at all.

Oh boy.

It's a long class. Emma spends most of it trying to crane her neck as subtly as she can to get a view of Regina's face. To see if she's mad or upset or, well, anything. Regina remains impassive throughout the class though, and when the bell finally rings she promptly collects her belongings and stands.

Shoving her own books haphazardly in her bag, Emma scrambles to follow. She pushes past the rest of her classmates to tail Regina through the hall. "Hey, so I'm sure you're probably pissed about this weekend but I swear it was an accident."

Regina ignores her, keeping a swift pace that Emma finds herself struggling to keep up with.

"I was hanging out with my friends, see, and we were playing this dumb game. Anyways, that asshole James Nolan jumped in and started messing with us and everything got so crazy, I totally lost track of the time. I didn't forget about you though, I promise. I just waited too long to look at the clock and I know I should have set an alarm or something but come on," Emma forces a high laugh, "you gotta know by now I'm not the sharpest light bulb in the old crayon box, right?"

Regina doesn't laugh. She just shoves through the masses and heads straight out the doors of the school without so much as a backwards glance.

"Cool," Emma calls out awkwardly as the doors swing shut. "Good talk."

Shit.

-

"Yeah, dude, you fucked up," Ruby drawls over the chat that night when they all meet up again.

"You really should have kept better track of the time, Emma," Mary Margaret adds. "That was unfair to Regina. You wasted a lot of her time."

Both David and Belle murmur their agreement.

"Woah, wait, hey," Emma whines. "Don't pin this all on me. I told you guys to remind me, didn't I? You know how all over the place I am."

"I did remind you," Belle says.

"Like, two hours too late!"

"Just try talking to her again," David soothes. "Once she cools off she'll be more willing to listen to your explanation. It's not like she can hold a grudge about it forever, right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Mary Margaret mutters under her breath.

"You're right." Emma sighs. "I'll just have to try again tomorrow."

They play well into the night, but Emma is distracted and off her game.

God, this better not become another Preschool Incident.

-

Emma's stomach is in knots all throughout Glass' lecture. How is she supposed to get Regina to forgive her if she plans on running out of the school every time Emma tries to talk to her?

Mercifully, the Teacher Gods seem to be looking out for Emma that day because when the lesson winds down, Glass smiles at them and says, "Why don't you catch up with your partners and make sure you're all on the same page? Our deadline is fast approaching, guys. Don't let the prospect of summer vacation distract you."

There's plenty of grumbling as kids swap seats, but Emma jumps at the chance to get Regina alone. For once she abandons her seat and heads straight for the other girl before Regina can even think to move.

"Hey."

Regina rolls her eyes and totally pretends to be engrossed in whatever random notebook she opened to avoid eye contact with Emma.

"You can't ignore me forever," Emma murmurs, doing her best not to draw too much attention to their spat. "We have to finish the project so you'll have to talk to me eventually." She leans back in her stolen chair, arms crossed, smug at her victory. Regina can't exactly argue the point.

Except her eyes flash and she sneers up at Emma. "Actually, I don't. Because our project is over. I finished the whole essay on my own. All that's left to do is keep a record of the numbers until the deadline, but that will be simple data entry I'm more than capable of handling by myself, so you'll have plenty of time to play with your friends to your heart’s content." Her smile is sickly sweet venom. "Now we can both get our A's and enjoy not having to deal with one another again."

Emma stares at her, opened mouthed. "But- Oh, come _on_ , you know it wasn't like I blew you off. It was a genuine accident!"

Regina is back to staring resolutely at her notebook though, and appears not to have heard Emma at all.

"Are you seriously going to ignore me for the rest of our lives?"

Regina doesn't look up but drawls a low, sarcastic, "Seems like it."

"For the love of-" Emma growls in her frustration.

"Emma?" She glances at her teacher where he sits at his desk, a finger pressed to his lips. "Inside voice, please."

The circle of students surrounding her are all watching Emma with confusion and clear amusement. She sinks low in her chair, face burning.

Regina still doesn't look up from her fucking notebook.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma spends the night irritable and distracted. She can't focus on her homework, so after a quick, quiet dinner with Ingrid she logs into her game to kill a couple hours. Emma will be alone tonight, she knows. Mary Margaret is out on the town canoodling with David, and Belle is helping Ruby study for her upcoming test because Ruby had the sudden revelation that the only thing worse than putting effort into her schoolwork would be not to and then being forced to take summer classes.

It's fine though. Emma kinda likes the idea of being alone at the moment. She's not really in the best mood. So running around the Enchanted Forest and spearing boars to farm for gold seems like a nice night in where she can just forget about her troubles.

…

Probably.

…

Look, okay. Regina isn't, like, a _good friend_ or anything. They don't talk outside of school or hang out together. But that doesn't mean Emma loves the idea of someone thinking she's a jerk.

It was just an _accident_.

Accidents don't make you a bad person.

They definitely don't mean you deserve to be shunned for the rest of your life.

Emma startles out of her thoughts when her avatar gets hit from behind with a magical ball of fire.

And then again.

And then again.

And-

"What the hell?" Emma turns on the attacking player and raises her shield, though it generally helps more against physical attacks than magical ones. A surge of irritation rises in her. If she'd been in the wilds that would be one thing, the odd over leveled asshole with nothing better to do on a Tuesday might be spoiling for a fight. But Emma is in a village selling loot at the moment and that's definitely against protocol.

Okay, well, it's not like an Official Rule or anything, but the player base as a whole sort of decided a long time ago that tearing into someone when they're locked into a conversation with an NPC is a shitty thing to do so-

Emma hovers her mouse over the enemy avatar, a bit frantic as her health bar slowly whittles down. The basic info that pops up reveals the player hasn't been around long so Emma decides to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 _Towns/villages/cities r neutral areas,_ she types into the general chat in case they haven't learned that yet.

The black mage doesn't even falter. She just keeps attacking, throwing spell after spell until Emma's health bar is way below the halfway line.

Okay then. Fuck it.

Emma draws her sword and sends her character to retaliate. As soon as she's in striking distance though, the asshole vanishes by logging off.

Okay. So an asshole and a coward, great. Awesome. Emma rolls her eyes.

 _I got their username_ , A random knight who had caught some of the action types into the general chat. _Want 2 both report her? They'll probs listen faster if we do it 2gether._

 _That's ok,_ Emma replies. _Probably just a bored a**hole that won't show their face again. Not worth 1mil years of emails with admins. Thanks tho._

A quick, _Np_ , pops up over the knight's head before they take off.

Emma sighs as she eyes the health bar at the top of her screen that's now flashing a bright, warning red. Whelp. She doesn't want to waste any potions, so without Belle around she can either spend coin to rent a room at an inn or use up one of her bedrolls. Ever frugal, Emma goes for the cheaper option.. She just has to head out of town to set up a campsite.

She's just past the borders of the fictional town on an empty area of flat land where she can make camp when the enemy avatar returns. Emma gets three spells to the back in rapid succession and before she can so much as blink, her avatar crumples to the ground, fainted.

_"What the fuck?"_

"Language." Ingrid's warning tone is muffled through Emma's closed door, but she doesn't miss the amusement that laces the words.

SwanPrincess24 is sent back to the closest respawn point with an assortment of items missing from her inventory as penalty. Groaning, Emma drops her head to her desk with a thud.

Why? Why do bad things happen to good people?

….

Okay. Fine.

Decent people.

-

Emma drags herself through school the next day. She fights to stay awake in Geometry, tunes out her friends at lunch, stares longingly after Regina in Econ only to continually be ignored, and heads home to listlessly do her homework until it's time to meet up with her friends. There, with everyone reunited, she explains over the group chat what happened to her.

"I bet it's just James on another account messing with you," Ruby says without hesitation.

"It does sound like James," Belle agrees.

"Unfortunately," David grumbles.

"Why would he hide his identity though?" Emma leans back in her chair while she fiddles with her headphone volume. "Usually he takes pride in his work."

"Maybe he's bored and was trying to mess with your head?" Mary Margaret offers. "Make you think other players are out to get us too."

"Maybe." But it doesn't seem like James. He's too stupid for guerrilla warfare. He would find them, attack with brute force, and then laugh about it in the cafeteria the next day with his buddies. When they weren't prepared, he could just barrel through them because his mom gave him free reign with the credit card. Their characters are beefed up with a gazillion loot crates and shit. Raw power is their thing. When it comes to skill and cunning, James isn't exactly top of the pack.

"I really am sorry, Emma."

"It's fine, David," she assures him with a sigh. "It's not your fault. This is probably the end of it anyways. No big deal."

-

It's not the end of it.

-

Emma doesn't log in for awhile. Life gets in the way.

She makes one last attempt with Regina during class on Thursday. "Just say something to me," she whines. "Come on. Even if it's something mean."

Regina doesn't.

That afternoon after school Ruby and Emma go for a short hike on one of the Finley Park trails before getting a couple of milkshakes at Granny's Diner. They chat about the book Ruby had just finished reading on Belle's recommendation, and the Netflix show Emma had started on David's, and they text the others to rope them into a movie the next night.

Friday night sees the whole gang out together at the theater downtown. They order two giant popcorn tubs to share between themselves while they gawk at the flashy action film on screen.

With all that going on, Emma doesn't log onto the game until Saturday morning.

That's when her stalker strikes again.

-

She's on fairly early, all by herself, wanting to goof off and procrastinate on the homework she really should be doing if she doesn't want to be scrambling to finish Sunday night. That's when the mage attacks.

Hit from behind, her character has already lost a quarter of her health before Emma can even draw her sword to retaliate. The mage takes off before she can get a hit in. Coward.

Emma returns to grinding for gold by hacking through hordes of low level goblins, but keeps a wary eye on her surroundings all the while.

About twenty minutes later, just when she's finally starting to relax, the mage appears again and her character is enveloped in a swirling vortex of fire.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Emma takes off after her but once again, the mage flees.

Forcing her avatar to guzzle down a life restoring potion, Emma grits her teeth and hunkers down to wait for their inevitable return. This time, she'll be ready.

The next attack comes sooner.

Emma manages to get a solid hit in, but the fire spells do far more damage than her simple iron sword can. Still, that single hit she lands is encouraging, and Emma lets herself get pulled into the other player's game. What follows is an obscene amount of hours of a cat and mouse chase where Emma is relentlessly pounded as she struggles to keep up with her opponent.

She dies once.

"Seriously?"

Then twice.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

And a third time.

"What the hell is your problem?"

After her fourth death, exhausted and frustrated and bitter, she tries one last time for reason.

 _Look bitch_ , she types into the general chat, _I pay ten bucks a month to play this game like everyone else and I deserve to-_

_You have fainted_

"Son of a fucking bitch!"

Ingrid pokes her head into the door. "Emma, honey, if the game is making you this upset maybe turn it off for a few hours, hmm?"

"No, I'm having fun.”

"It doesn't sound like you're having very much fun."

_"This is how I have fun!"_

"Whatever you say…"

-

"Just report her, Emma," Belle says when the two of them play together on Sunday. "There are people whose job it is to handle this sort of thing. It's harassment. If they're doing this to you, I'm sure they're going after a bunch of other players as well. It will be easy to build up a case against them. Get them banned. At the very least they’ll get a strike against their account."

"It's the principle of the thing," Emma tries to explain. "Winning by snitching isn't winning at all."

Belle doesn't seem to agree, but at least she drops the subject. Part of what she'd said sticks with Emma though, and--after spending a good chunk of her personal gold reserves on a full set of fire resistant armor for her character--she hits the forums searching for any word of other players being targeted by her stalker.

Nothing turns up, so all Emma is left with is bitter disappointment and two possibilities. Either nobody is bothered enough to complain about it, or she's the only player that this EvilQueen2003 is targeting.


	4. Chapter 4

Emma spends the next week trying to outmaneuver her new arch nemesis while getting in a few blows of her own. It's not going so hot. Her deaths are racking up and after a few creative cussing explosions, Ingrid winds up banning her from the computer all of Wednesday night.

Honestly Emma isn't even mad about it. It's probably a good call.

"Why don't you just wait for one of us before you log on?" David keeps offering.

"Yeah," Mary Margaret agrees, "they never attack you when you're with the group. Hide in plain sight."

"I don't want her to think I'm a _coward_ ," Emma replies, aghast at the very notion.

She gets wiped out four more times on Thursday.

"Dude, I never stopped to think about it, but are you kind of shit at this game?"

"Fuck off, Rubes."

Emma has always been good about moderation. She usually divides her time fairly evenly between schoolwork and games and reading and time with her friends and whatever else has her interest in the moment. Now though, she's started to develop an unhealthy fixation with sitting in front of her computer in a way she never has before.

Because the longer she sits and waits, the higher the chance that EvilQueen2003 will show up. And the more she pops up, the higher the chance that Emma will kick her ass.

Probably.

Maybe.

_You have fainted_

Okay, well, not _today_ obviously. But soon….

… ish …

-

"Okay," Ruby pushes up onto her elbows where she's sprawled out on Emma's bed one Saturday afternoon, "I'm staging an intervention."

"No," Emma whines, "just one more try. I almost had her that time. If she shows up again I'll get her for sure."

With a long suffering sigh, Ruby rolls off the mattress and comes up behind Emma. She leans heavily on her back, peering over her shoulder at the screen. "Kiddo, it's time to face facts. You done been beat. No shame, but you're clearly outclassed."

Emma grumbles, drooping slightly under the added weight. "I just don't get how she's so good. I'm good. How is she so much…gooder?"

"She's the goodest, apparently. Come on," Ruby straightens and grabs the back of Emma's chair to drag her away from the desk, "I want ice cream. The sun is out and we should be enjoying our youth."

"Wait, no." Emma clings futility to her keyboard as she's rolled away from her battle. "This is for honor."

"You're such a loser." Ruby tugs lightly on her ponytail. "If I promise to help you beat this chick up later, will you come get an ice cream with me?"

Emma tilts her head back to eye the girl standing over her suspiciously. "When?"

Ruby rolls her eyes. "Tomorrow. First thing."

"She won't show up if someone is with me." Emma chews on her bottom lip in thought. "What if you log on and wait somewhere on the other side of the map, and then I'll fart around near a warp point. She'll ambush me as usual and I'll pretend to be losing-"

Ruby snorts. "While also actually losing."

Emma ignores her. "-but really I'll tell you over our chat that she showed up. That's when you can warp right to us and _bam_ ," Emma slaps her palms together with a triumphant whoop, "down she goes."

"Whatever gets me my ice cream fastest, Em."

-

The heat from the sun has them both licking up the side of their cones in an effort to keep up with the rapidly melting ice cream. They're on a bench just outside of the tiny creamery on the corner of Main Street, people watching and reveling in the fact that very soon, they'll be out of school and free to enjoy their summer properly.

Well, Emma is people watching at least. Ruby is apparently looking for a heart to heart that Emma is one hundred percent certain she's completely unqualified to engage in.

"I think it's cool. It seems like it is." Ruby shifts on the bench, rubbing at the back of her neck with her free hand. "But, like, there's always the chance it's not, and then things will be weird and ruined forever, you know?"

Emma scrunches up her nose and does her best to focus on her chocolate soft serve. "Well, even if it's not her thing you know she's not gonna be judgy about it. She's not like that."

"Yeah, but still." Ruby's voice takes on an uncharacteristically whiny tone. "I don't want to make her uncomfortable."

"I guess," Emma agrees, awkward and out of her depth.

"You guess?" Ruby pulls a face. "What do you mean 'you guess'?"

"I dunno." Emma's cheeks heat. "If you want romantic advice you have to go to Mary Margaret. I'm not a romance girl," she defends. "I'm good at, like, sarcasm and binge eating junk food. Come to me for that stuff. Not dating junk"

For a moment, Ruby studies her. And then she grins. "You're right, what was I thinking? You're a disaster when it comes to this stuff."

"Disaster is a strong word," Emma pouts but Ruby doesn't seem to notice. Or chooses not to, more like.

"Sorry, dude. Forget it." Ruby raises her cone and taps her vanilla soft serve against Emma's chocolate as though clinking two wine glasses together. "Cheers."

A cry of alarm slips out of Emma as she stares in horror at the white smear Ruby's ice cream left behind. "Oh god, Ruby. Ew. Come on."

"What?" Ruby protests through her laughter. "Now it's a swirl. People order that on purpose."

"Yeah, swirled with you spit. Gross."

Ruby just rolls her eyes and happily returns to her treat. "Baby."

"Asshole."

-

"Okay," Emma fiddles with the volume on her headphones, "you can hear me all right?"

"Oh my god, for the third time, yes, Emma. I can hear you perfectly fine, just like always."

Emma huffs. "You know, I could do without the attitude. This is an important operation."

Ruby snorts. "We're punching a virtual bully, not sending a man to the moon."

"Different things are important to different people." Emma sends her avatar through the teleport on screen and gets ready to set their plan into motion.

"Hey, so, question," Ruby prompts, "what happens if she's not playing today or doesn't find you? I'm not wasting the rest of my weekend waiting around for some rando to maybe show up."

"She always shows up," Emma insists. "As long as it looks like I'm alone, she'll be here."

"Whatever you say. If this takes more than an hour I'm outtie."

It takes two--plus a considerable amount of pleading and bribing from Emma--but eventually EvilQueen2003 makes an appearance. Ruby is a little slow to respond.

"Dude, are you even paying attention?"

"I was looking over my math homework, thank you very much."

"Bullshit."

Even though it takes longer than they planned, Ruby does manage to warp over and catch the Queen in mid strike. She commands her character to attack and, freed from the initial assault, Emma joins in. Together, they bear down on the Queen, hitting her with their best talents and skills. She's good, but the game's class system is balanced well enough that one player really stands no chance when facing down two or more on their own.

"Hey, this username is kinda familiar, I think."

"Really?" Engrossed as she is in combat--or, you know, rapidly clicking the left mouse button--Emma hardly registers Ruby's words. "You sure?"

"I think so."

"Maybe you just saw her go by in a town or something."

Ruby laughs. "Or maybe you mentioned it during one of your deranged rants."

"I'm not deranged," Emma growls in an admittedly deranged way as the Queen sends a fire spell straight for her character's face. "I'm passionate."

Ruby just laughs harder.

The reverse ambush doesn't last much longer. With the pressure on, and her health bar well below the halfway point, the Queen gives up on trying to defend herself and slips into the teleport to warp away from their impromptu battle.

Not before she leaves behind a message though.

**EvilQueen2003:** Coward

Ruby whoops when she disappears, but Emma is left glaring at her computer screen, the Queen's farewell burned into her mind. Coward? She's not a coward. The person running away with their tail between their legs the second they're outnumbered is the coward.

"Now that we got her will you please stop acting like a crazy person?" Ruby prompts.

Emma just grunts into her mic.

Coward? She's not the coward. It's not her fault she actually has friends who are willing to help her, unlike some people.

_Coward?_

No way.

-

"How is defending myself cowardly?"

Ruby groans at the question and shuts her locker with a bit more force than necessary. Belle offers Emma a grimace.

"It's not," she assures her kindly.

"Damn right it's not." Emma lifts her chin. "The whole point of the game is about grouping up in guilds and stuff. I'm just playing how it's meant to be played. She's the one who-"

"Oh my god," Ruby snaps, "I can't believe I'm about to willingly walk into my math class three minutes early because of you." She pins Emma with a hard stare. "Think about that Emma. Three minutes. Reflect upon your life."

"I'm not being _that_ bad," Emma calls after Ruby's retreating form, but when Belle doesn't even pretend to stick up for her, Emma relents that, okay, fine, maybe she is.

When you've annoyed Belle, you've gone too far.

…

But she's not a fucking coward though.

-

It's a long day. Emma's classes seem to drag on until the end of time and beyond, and she struggles to focus on anything her teachers talk about. All her mind can seem to focus on is getting home, hunting down the Queen, and proving to her once and for all that Emma Swan is no fucking coward.

"And what do you think about that, Miss Swan?"

Emma jumps in her seat and blinks up at the teacher hovering over her desk who looks full well like she knows Emma is in no way listening to her analysis on the deeper themes of Lord of the Flies.

"Uh…"

-

"Yikes." Ruby wrinkles her nose as Emma all but throws herself bodily into the chair next to her at their usual table in the cafeteria.

"I don't want to talk about it." Emma's cheeks still feel warm from being called out in front of the class and she's overtired from the long nights she's spent doing battle with her nemesis.

"Noted."

Emma much prefers the sympathetic look she gets from Belle over Ruby's blatant pity, but, well, she'll take whatever she can get. Doing her best to put on a brave face after all the deep traumas she's suffered the past week or so, Emma straightens up in her seat and focuses on the tray of lukewarm chicken nuggets in front of her.

"Anyways," Emma prompts around a mouthful as she eyes her friends, "what's up?" They shrug and chat about their classes a bit, but they're sitting close enough Emma wonders if Ruby decided to go for it after all. Maybe she'd talked to Mary Margaret the other night and got some proper advice.

"What up, Little Orphan Annie?"

Emma doesn't bother even glancing up at where she knows James is hovering over their table, that dumb sneer on his face. With the mood she's in today, she doesn't even want to give him the satisfaction of acknowledgement.

Ruby, apparently, has other ideas.

Always the hottest temper of the group, Ruby is on her feet and on the offensive in seconds. "Dude, fuck off," she growls. "That shit crosses the line and you know it. This isn't about our dumb game anymore." Maybe it's from being raised by her grandmother, but sometimes Emma feels like Ruby is more sensitive about her lack of a nuclear family than she is.

It's a trait that's made her simultaneously the most understanding and yet hardest to talk to friend Emma has.

James rolls his eyes, attention barely wavering from Emma. "I wasn't talking to you, dyke."

Emma's not sure if it's the alarmed twist of Ruby's features or Belle's sharp inhale or just the shitty fucking week she's had that makes her lunge.

Maybe it's all three.


	5. Chapter 5

Of all of the many, many times Emma Swan has felt like absolute shit in her life, this is the time she's felt the absolute shittiest.

The kitchen is painfully quiet. The steaming mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of her goes untouched, and the ice pack pressed against the back of her arm has gotten too warm. The effects have long since worn off and it leaves the space above her elbow throbbing in a repetitive pattern.

Ingrid sits across from her, gaze piercing in a way that makes Emma shift in her seat.

Though her tongue sits like lead in her mouth, the undivided attention is enough to drag a petulant, "He started it," out of her anyway. Denial is the only way Emma knows how to handle this.

After all, the second you admit doing anything wrong is the second you're gone.

"I was told you made it physical." Her voice is steady. Even. "Is that wrong?"

Emma drops her gaze and shifts again. Lips pressed tightly together, she doesn't respond.

"I'm not challenging you," Ingrid assures her. "If you tell me that's wrong, I'll believe you. We'll fight the suspension."

Emma is near squirming now. Guilt rises in her throat, hot and foul like vomit. She swallows. "He picked a fight with us first but…" against all of her better instincts- "I made it physical."

There's a lengthy pause. It's all Emma can do to keep from crumbling under the weight of it. She doesn't dare raise her eyes. She can't bear to see the disappointment. The anger. She doesn't want to watch herself be given up on.

"Okay."

Emma's head snaps up. "Okay?"

Ingrid stares back at her, passive like she'd known exactly how it had gone down all along. "Yes."

"That's it?" Emma squeaks.

Something that might be amusement tugs at Ingrid's lips, but she quickly reigns it in. "What do you want me to say?" She raises her eyebrows.

Emma's cheeks heat at her pointed look. "I dunno," she mumbles with a half-shrug that makes her arm twinge. "Something."

"I think everything I could say, you already know." Ingrid's voice is weighted now, disapproving, but not completely unkind. "But maybe I should remind you of something you might have forgotten. This sort of thing, you engaging in this kind of behavior, you know it doesn't reflect very well on me, right?"

Emma ducks her head. "I'm sorry."

A heavy sigh. "I enjoy having you here, Emma. More than you know. Don't you like being here?"

"Yeah." She jumps on that in an instant. She can't, even for a second, let Ingrid think- "Of course. You've been awesome. This is so much better than-" she cuts herself off, embarrassed. "Well, I just- Yeah." She sniffs. "I like it."

At the very least, Ingrid is smiling, even if only slightly. "I'm glad." She reaches out and covers Emma's hand where it rests on the table lightly with her own. "But things like this- If I get deemed an unsuitable caretaker for you, there's very little I could do to fight that. It's just me here, my word alone. So if we don't stick together, then we don't have anyone. Understand?"

She softens at the flash of fear that must betray itself on Emma's face. "This isn't a threat. I'd never punish you like that, especially not for sticking up for a friend. Even when I don't agree with your…methods." Her smile turns wry. "If someone from the state sees it differently though-"

"I'll do better," Emma vows before she can jinx them by finishing that thought. "I promise."

Ingrid reaches up to trail gentle fingers along her cheek. "I know you will."

After a moment, Emma dares to lean into the contact. She finds her arm doesn't hurt quite so bad anymore.

"Though I think I'm sort of obligated to say no recreational computer time until the suspension is lifted, unfortunately."

"Aw, come on."

-

The guild is Pissed. Capital 'P'.

"Bullshit you get suspended," Ruby cries.

"At least James was suspended too," Mary Margaret tries.

"Dick should have been fucking expelled and Emma should be honorary prom queen for every year for the rest of time."

Emma wrinkles her nose. "No thanks."

Her room feels a little overcrowded with everyone stuffed inside. David pensive in her computer chair. Ruby perched on the edge of her desk, legs swinging and eyes blazing with righteous fury. Belle and Mary Margaret together on the bed. Emma stands in the middle of them all, feeling a bit on display, but overall delightfully validated.

Like, yeah, she knows Ingrid is right and what she did wasn't particularly smart, but it's still nice to have everyone rallying around her.

"Can we at least pretend to watch our language when we're shouting in the house?" Ingrid's voice seeps through the door.

She'd been understandably hesitant to let the pack of teens into her home when they'd shown up and demanded to see Emma--sure that suspension should mean no friendly visitors--but Emma has learned since her arrival that when it comes to punishments, Ingrid isn't the best at enforcing them for very long. Or at all.

She's definitely not a woman made for disciplining.

Thank god.

Ruby calls back a sheepish, "Sorry," before getting right back into it with only a marginally lower voice. "We gotta strike back and put an end to this once and for all."

Mary Margaret pulls a face. "I think we learned that violence isn't the answer here." Emma can feel the weight of her disapproving gaze but pointedly refuses to meet it.

She's feeling enough shame at the moment, thanks. Shifting, she presses the rapidly warming ice pack more comfortably against her arm.

"No, I'm talking about in the game." Ruby sits taller, arms crossed. "A public challenge, guild against guild. When it's done, no matter who wins, we leave each other be."

"I think he'd need an awfully big incentive to agree to that," Belle says, openly dubious.

"Each team puts up their total gold." Ruby hums in thought. "And, uh, how about we go through our inventories and see if there's anything he might be interested in?"

"I dunno," Emma sighs, "he can just buy items and in game currency whenever he wants. I don't think he's particularly shy about spending real money."

"Say you'll quit." It's the first time David's spoken up since his quiet greeting when he first arrived. His eyes are trained on the floor, and his voice is subdued. "That's the only thing he'll agree to. Winners take all, losers disband."

"We can't do that," Mary Margaret protests.

"It's risky," Belle agrees, "we lose as often as we come out on top against them."

"Let's do it." Ruby pushes to her feet and does her best to rally them. "So what if we lose? It's almost summer. We're going to all be hanging out together outside for the next two months anyways. How often are we really going to be playing once school's out?"

"That's true." Emma nods along, warming to the idea. "We've already been slowing down on playing as a full group anyhow."

"Yeah. Best case scenario we humiliate James in front of his little internet gang. Worst case we just do something else when we hang out. No big deal."

"If we win it might discourage him from picking on other people too," Belle adds.

"One problem." Emma holds up a finger, grimacing. "I'm banned from using the computer for entertainment purposes until my suspension is up."

Ruby, not to be swayed, waves her off. "Then we'll do it the weekend after you're back in school. It will give both teams time to prepare, right? Let's send him a PM with the date and time. Make it all official."

"I dunno guys," Emma winces, "this seems really nerdy. I do have my limits."

"Get with the times, Emma, nerds are cool now. Hollywood said so once they realized how much money they could make off of us."

-

James responds to them in such an embarrassingly short amount of time that Emma wonders if he just sits at his computer all day, waiting for opportunities to troll strangers on the internet. It almost makes her feel sorry for him.

Though he's increasingly sarcastic in their exchanges, they eventually come to a surprisingly detailed agreement. Seven o'clock two Saturdays from now on the edge of the Infinite Forest section of the map, they'll meet. They're allowed to recruit someone their level or lower to meet James' six-member guild, but they can't exceed that number. 25 health potion cap, 30 stamina potion, and no weapon switching mid-combat allowed. All skills/talent/magic allowed except for ones involving character revival. When a party member faints, they're down for the remainder of the battle. No exceptions.

Last man standing wins.

"We best get practicing, kids," Ruby sighs out when the details are at last nailed down.

"And we need to start thinking about who we want to recruit," Belle adds. "It'd be nice to have another knight since most of our characters have low physical defense."

"Hey, whatever helps us kick that dude's fucking ass the fastest, I'm down," Ruby shouts. "If I can't take him out in real life then you gotta let me give him the virtual beat down of a lifetime. No holds barred."

" _Please_ ," Ingrid's voice seeps through the door, "just try to pretend you're behaving. That's all I'm asking for. It's the bare minimum, guys."

"Sorry!"

-

It's a long week. Emma is out for five days total. Belle says she's lucky. She got a soft sentence, likely because the school didn't want to get any higher ups involved. Apparently anything longer would have required going through the Superintendent of their school district and that would have been a headache and a half for their principal.

Emma is just happy James is at least getting the same treatment.

Ingrid goes to the school daily to bring back work for her, and Emma focuses on that for the first two days of her punishment. On the third, her caseworker shows up to give her a stern talking to. She bites her tongue and takes it with grace, assures him it was a one time thing and she has adjusted well to life with Ingrid, and that she's going to be a model citizen for the foreseeable future.

When he leaves, Ingrid gives her a hug and takes her out for ice cream and proves that she knows Emma well enough not to comment on the wet trail of relief streaking down her cheeks.

On the fourth day, David knocks on their front door just about fifteen minutes after school lets out. He ducks his head politely when Ingrid lets him in and stands awkwardly in Emma's doorway until she finally caves and gestures for him to sit at her desk.

It isn't the easiest conversation. Not difficult, David is far too soft spoken and earnest for that. But there's an underlying _adultness_ to the subject matter that makes Emma feel like she's attempting to grapple with ideas she's not quite ready to process.

"When Dad died," he says, looking down at his hands in his lap, "well, Mom and I dealt with it in our own ways. But James was different from the both of us. I don't think he's been able to deal with it at all." David is quick to glance up, hands raised in defense. "I'm not making excuses. Everything that's happened isn't in any way okay. But I guess-" His features twist. A perturbed pout stealing his lips as he wrestles to pick out the most delicate of the words likely flooding his mind. "I want you to know my brother of a few years ago never would say the things he's said to you. Never would have even thought them." He shrugs. "I know that doesn't change anything. I guess I just wanted to say it. At least once, you know?"

Perhaps the most telling thing about her youth is that the only thought she seems able to focus on in that moment is the fact that this is the first time they've ever hung out alone together before and so far it's super uncomfortable.

Still-

Well, she certainly doesn't have any frame of reference to help her understand James. She's never lost a parent. Never had anyone who truly felt like enough of a parent to lose. There have been plenty of farewells, some harder than others. A seemingly endless string of goodbyes that had led her to this point. But those people, the good and the bad and the sometimes very, very bad, had never been taken from her. Not once. They hadn't been violently ripped from her hands, she'd been willingly passed from theirs.

Emma knows loss better than anyone, just maybe not quite this kind.

"Maybe-" Emma clears her throat, eyes averted and cheeks a bit warm. "Maybe your brother a few years from now won't say or think that kind of stuff either."

David smiles and the expression is more than a little watery. "I hope so."

God, what a sap. Perfect for the likes of Mary Margaret.

Emma shifts in her discomfort and bobs her head like an idiot. "Me too, bud."

They go downstairs to microwave some popcorn and watch When Harry Met Sally because that's David's favorite movie and he seems personally offended by the fact Emma hasn't seen it.

It's okay, she supposes. Better than having high-emotion-sort-of-grown-up-talks at any rate, that's for damn sure.

-

When Emma is at last allowed to return to school, things have certainly changed. While she'd never been particularly popular in the past--at least not in the way that teen movies lead you to believe a person can be popular--she'd always been fairly friendly with most everyone. Not a lot of friends she'd actively hang out without outside of school, but plenty of acquaintances she didn't mind chatting with in the halls or sitting beside during class.

Now though, everyone but her closest friends seems to be giving her a wide berth.

She doesn't blame them. Not really. Who wants to hang out with a troublemaker so close to the freedom of summer vacation? Not worth the risk. Besides, walking through the halls on her first day back she hears whispers about having an ‘explosive temper' and thinks tales of her tussle with James might have been exaggerated in her absence.

It's strange. Though she's been bullied in other schools in the past, a skinny perpetual new kid with too-big clothes and too-small lunches, she's never been feared before. Definitely a new experience to add to the books.

All in all, though she's not met with any trouble, by the time her lunch period rolls around Emma is more than happy to retreat to the solitude of the library. It's part of her punishment. Lonely lunches for the rest of the year supervised by the librarian. After a morning of whispers and stares though, her prison feels more like a sanctuary.

Emma sits slumped at the round reading table that's in the furthest corner of the library to lower her chances of being noticed. The librarian strides by with a handful of books to check in on her every so often, but otherwise Emma is left to her own devices. Sighing, she pulls her lunch bag open and tries her best to enjoy her forty-five minutes of peace.

That doesn’t last very long.

"Hey."

Emma startles in surprise at the suddenness of Regina appearing in the chair beside her, nearly choking on her sandwich. Coughing a bit, she manages to swallow it down. "I'm, uh," Emma rasps, mindful of her volume in the near-stifling silence of the library, "not really supposed to have visitors."

"The librarian likes me," Regina whispers with a shrug.

Emma vaguely remembers Regina saying she spends time here during lunch, but she's not sure that will be enough to keep them both out of trouble if they get caught during what's supposed to be Emma's solitary confinement. The librarian is out of sight for the moment however, and Regina doesn't appear to be leaving anytime soon.

"It's been kind of nice today seeing James Nolan walk around with what's left of his black eye."

Emma blinks dumbly. It's almost like Regina sat down with the intention of…being nice to her? Last she'd heard she was still top of Regina's shit list. But now it seems like-

Tentatively, Emma braves a response, praying against all odds she doesn't once again snap whatever olive branch Regina is offering. "Does it ruin my street cred to admit it was an accident?" She rubs sheepishly at her healed arm. "I kinda just clipped him with a flailing elbow when we fell over. I don't think anybody even got an actual hit in."

Honestly the whole 'fight' had lasted an embarrassing twenty seconds before staff ran over to put an end to it. Their pride had been more wounded than anything.

Regina snorts. "Well it's much easier to tell him apart from David now at least."

A sharp bark of laughter bursts out of Emma and she quickly slaps a hand over her mouth to try an stifle her surprise. The librarian pokes his head around a bookshelf to glare them both into quiet. They flash him innocent smiles until he huffs and leaves.

"Wow," Emma sighs out, relieved he'd gone without trouble, "I guess he does like you."

"Most all of the teachers do." It should probably be annoying, but Regina doesn't say it in a haughty way.

Emma decides to let it go. If she's finally about to get back on Regina's good side, like hell is she going to do anything to mess it up. Instead, she just says a soft, “Thanks.”

Regina shrugs like it’s no big deal, but Emma can tell she’s pleased so she dares to press her luck even further. Even if Regina had only intended to give her an inch, Emma’s shooting for the full mile back into the other girl’s good graces.

“Hey, so, I know you already did everything perfectly, but do you think I could get another chance to take a peek at our project? I haven’t even seen the essay. I won’t be able to enjoy my guaranteed ‘A’ if I don’t at least pretend to help out.”

For one long, incredibly painful moment, Regina seems to seriously consider turning her down. But then she cocks her head and says, “I suppose I could allow it.”

Regina really must have a lot of sway with the school staff because when she leads Emma over to the few computers clustered in the library, Emma's prison warden doesn't bat an eye. The librarian merely watches them from his desk for a moment before shrugging and returning to his books.

Emma should get in trouble with Regina around more often.

When Regina sits at the computer, Emma drags a chair up beside her and waits patiently, munching on what's left of the Teddy Grahams Ingrid had packed for her. "You can look at it now," Regina murmurs as she logs into her school account and opens Word, "but I'll email you the file too. There's not a lot of time left in the period."

Emma's about to argue she's a pretty speedy reader when the amount of pages being loaded silences her. Whelp, at least she's going to be able to help with editing this monster down. She has half a mind to make fun of Regina for turning their five-page-minimum essay into a full length novel, but quickly thinks better of it and instead says, "Good idea."

It only takes a second for Regina to log in and send Emma a blank email with their project attached. The screen returns to her inbox and they sit, the silence heavy between them now that they don't have their work to distract them. Regina appears to be back to her old self, but she never really seemed to accept or even absorb Emma's numerous apologies. It makes her inclined to try again, but at the same time, she's afraid of bringing up the wound and pissing Regina off all over again when it looks like the other girl is ready to let the whole thing go.

Stressed and anxious, Emma finds herself only able to stretch out her sandwich baggy and ask in a squeaky voice, "Teddy?"

Regina studies her for a moment, lips pressed together like she's trying her best not to laugh, and then she relents and takes a cookie from the bag.

Score! Emma's gotta be off the hook for sure now, right?

Satisfied, and maybe a little smug, Emma leans back in her chair with a sigh. Maybe things post suspension aren't so bad after all. There are only a few minutes left of the period, so she gets comfortable and tries to come up with some kind of small talk that Regina won't find completely intolerable before the bell rings. As her mind wanders, her gaze does too, and without really meaning to, Emma finds herself scanning Regina's open inbox.

Coupons and deals from a couple different stores around town. Notifications from various social media sites. And--after doing a double take--information about a sale that Emma had seen in her own inbox just this morning.

Hey EvilQueen2003 big news! We want to tell you all about the huge summer blowout sale that will be starting July first and running for one full week. That means seven days of discounts on clothing, weap- The preview cuts off there, but Emma's seen the important bit.

Holy shit

"Uh…" Emma looks from the screen to Regina and back again.

Following Emma's line of sight, Regina's eyes widen, her cheeks dark.

They stare at one another.

...

...

...

They stare at one another for an _awkwardly_ long time.

"Uh-" Emma tries again.

The bell rings.

Regina runs.

...

...

...

"Uh," Emma blinks at the empty chair left behind, "what?"


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby, of course, thinks the reveal is hilarious.

"Okay," Emma drawls, hoping her pout can't be heard through the mic, "ten minutes of laughing isn't productive, thanks."

"I'm- I'm sorry-" Ruby splutters. Emma can picture her wiping away tears like some kind of obnoxious cartoon. "It's just too good."

"Yeah, getting trolled by classmates is a real hoot."

"There _is_ something poetic about her revenge." Belle actually sounds impressed, which Emma is one hundred percent not into.

"It's a beautiful sort of karma," Mary Margaret agrees.

Aren't her friends supposed to be on her side?

"It was really unfair how you stood her up like that." Et tu, David?

"Oh my god, I know," Emma whines. "That's why I apologized a gazillion times. Jesus. It was an accident. I lost track of time. You guys act like I was staring at my pocket watch while I twirled my mustache."

"You'd look hot with a mustache."

"Thanks, Rubes." Emma sits back in her chair. "Man, I can't believe it. This is so out of nowhere."

“So, are you like, majorly pissed?” Ruby asks.

“No, I don’t think so.” Emma sighs. “If it was anybody else just being a dick, yeah, for sure. But she did have a reason, at least.” She snorts. “I mean, totally crazy and completely over-the-top reaction, but at least it’s a reaction to _something_ , you know. Better than some random dude in Nebraska or, like, James. Still having a hard time wrapping my head around it though.”

"Well, I for one think this reveal came at the perfect time." Belle's voice is tight and practiced, which is usually what she sounds like when she's saying something she knows the other person doesn't want to hear.

Oh boy.

"We _are_ still looking for our last teammate."

Cold dread washes over Emma.

"Holy crap, yeah," Ruby shouts. "Dude, it's perfect. We hook up with a black mage and the Fight Club's gonna be toast."

"We would have much better team composition," David allows.

"Can't argue that," Mary Margaret says, though she at least sounds dubious. Still afraid of Regina on some level no doubt.

"We just need someone with an in to ask her to play with us…" Ruby prompts.

"Oh come on guys," Emma whines, "don't humiliate me like this."

"Humiliate?" Ruby scoffs. "We're just asking you to knock on the mayor's door and grovel to her daughter who hates you until she agrees to join your team in a video game where she's spent that last few weeks brutally massacring you. How is any of that humiliating?"

"Fuck you," Emma snaps at her smug tone until the words really register. "Wait, mayor?"

"Oh my god, Emma," comes a chorus of groans.

"What," she squeaks her defense, "I'm new."

"You lived here for almost two years." Belle sounds properly disappointed in her.

"You really need to pay more attention to local politics," Mary Margaret scolds.

"I'm fifteen!"

"This is Trump's America, Emma. That's no excuse anymore."

-

It's stupid, but Emma finds her hands are more than a little clammy as she steps up the long path to Regina's massive house. Is that thing a mansion? She feels like it should be classified as a mansion. The way it towers over her, impossibly tall and unbelievably imposing, it feels like mansion material.

She's not even inside yet and Emma already feels out of place. The flowerbeds lining the walkway are flourishing, the lawn is bright and healthy, the hedges around the yard are neatly trimmed. It's flawless. Perfect. Immaculate. Something out of a catalog. The whole property almost doesn't feel real.

Up on the front stoop now, Emma can't help but let her gaze drop to her own outfit. Old t-shirt. Nearly too-small jeans that are starting to fray a bit at the bottom. Oh boy.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Emma squares her shoulders and reaches for the doorbell. This is no big deal. Regina's always been perfectly nice to her until everything went down. And that was completely Emma's fault. There's no reason to suspect her family won't be perfectly nice as well.

Finally committing, Emma squeezes her eyes shut and rings the doorbell before she can chicken out. No going back now.

It takes awhile for the door to open, enough time that Emma thinks about making a break for it more than once. She's already taken a half step back before Cora Mills is in front of her, well dressed and perfectly put together and staring down at Emma as though she's something foul that's blown onto the front porch.

Oh god.

Don't throw up on the mayor, Emma. Don't throw up on the mayor. Please oh please don't throw up on the mayor.

"Hi," Emma quickly clears her throat to get rid of some of the high pitched squeak in her voice, "I was wondering if Regina is home?"

Cora blinks down at her, shoulders back and brow furrowed, clearly unimpressed. "It's a bit rude to show up unannounced at someone's house around dinnertime and then demand something without even having the basic courtesy to introduce oneself, isn't it?"

Holy shit.

"Oh, uh, I'm, uh-" Emma splutters, cheeks burning, "I'm--sorry--I'm Emma. Emma Swan?" She hates how unsure she sounds about that.

Cora eyes her critically. Up and down and up again. "I see." Her lips are pursed. A thin, white line of displeasure. "And just what would someone like yourself want with my daughter?"

By this point Emma's pretty sure sweat is dripping from every inch of her body. "Um-" She's certain her mouth has never been this dry before in the entirety of her life.

"Well?"

"Mother," Zelena Mills pops up behind the other woman, eyebrows raised, "stop scaring away anyone who is actually brave enough to knock on the door."

The transformation happens like magic, immediate and absolute. Cora's whole posture drops. Her shoulders sag, her features relax, and suddenly she's open and amused. "Oh come now, don't be such a stick in the mud. You girls always spoil my fun."

Emma only knows Zelena in theory. She'd been a senior when they'd been freshmen, and now she goes to college somewhere out of state so she must be home on break or something. They've never interacted before, but Emma's grateful for the interruption nonetheless. At least Zelena isn't looking at her like she's gum on the bottom of her shoe.

"So who are you?" Zelena pushes rather rudely past her mother to lean against the door frame, arms crossed. "You selling cookies or something?"

"Oh no, dear," Cora answers before Emma can even remember her own name, "haven't you heard? This is _Emma_." She gestures dramatically, voice rising with importance.

Zelena looks like somebody just declared her queen. " _This_ is Emma? _Our_ Emma? _The_ Emma?"

"Of course she's _the_ Emma," Cora says with a sniff. "Look at her. Who else would she be?" She gestures to Emma again. "Go on, tell her, girl."

Emma stands, blinking dumbly at their expectant looks. "What?"

"Stop!" Regina shoves her way into view, voice high and frantic. "You're not allowed to talk to her." She grabs Emma's arm and without so much as a cursory hello, wrenches her inside the house.

"Woah," is all Emma manages to get out as she's towed rather forcefully up a grand staircase, Zelena and Cora's gleaming smiles at her back.

"We were just talking to _Emma_ ," Cora calls after them.

"Yeah," Zelena jeers, "Emma is just so _nice_ and _funny_ and-."

"Why are they making fun of me so much?" Emma mumbles as Regina jerks her into a room and slams the door shut behind them. Like, yeah, these aren't her nicest jeans but still…geez.

For her part, Regina ignores the question. She glares at Emma, cheeks flushed with anger. "What are you doing here?"

Emma takes a moment to study her surroundings, trying to figure out where 'here' actually is.

It's a bedroom. Walls a pale, faded purple color, it looks as though they've been that way for a very long time. A massive bookshelf stretches across more than half the length of a wall, crammed full of novels and DVDs and even decorated with a few figurines. There's a desk in the corner. An open laptop next to an open notebook, headphones hastily abandoned in a tangled mess of wire. Just a few feet away is a bed, more than generous for a single person, sheets and comforter neatly made, a cute plush horse resting on the pillow.

Regina follows Emma's line of sight and her eyes widen. She darts forward and shoves the stuffed animal under her blankets, cheeks even darker now.

"I'm in your room," Emma states rather dumbly.

Regina stares at her like she's some kind of alien being. "Yes."

"Right." Emma clears her throat and tries to get this whole visit back on track. "You're the Evil Queen."

"Prove it," Regina counters, arms crossed and nose in the air.

"Well you did just say 'prove it' rather than 'what are you talking about' so…" Emma shrugs.

"You still don't have any hard evidence," Regina reminds her in a snotty voice.

"I guess not, since I didn’t get a screenshot of that email." Emma bobs her head, hands stuffed in her pockets. God, this is even more awkward than she anticipated. "I'm not here to call you out though."

"Really?"

"Nah." Emma shifts between her feet. "It's just that you're pretty good, yeah? And we've kinda been on the hunt for a black mage that can help us kick James' ass. So, I dunno, if you were willing to join the guild then-"

"You want me to waste my personal time logging into a childish game to help you fight an imaginary war?"

Emma can’t help but snort. "You know, for someone who thinks the game is dumb you sure spent a lot of time farming gold to buy cute dresses for your avatar."

Regina's features sour. "Get out of my house," she deadpans.

"Regina, wait. Please." Emma throws her hands up in defense before she's forcibly shoved out the door. "I know I pissed you off but come on, before that we were cool, right? It wasn't something malicious or that I didn't care. I _did_ care, I'm just a big nerd and lost track of time, that's all. And now that I know it bothered you so much I want to make it up to you."

Regina doesn't seem particularly moved until the last part. Her brow raises in interest. "Make it up to me how?"

"You know," Emma falters, wincing, "by letting you join my guild and giving you the satisfaction of virtually humiliating James Nolan?"

Regina scoffs and is clearly ready to shove her out for real this time.

"No- wait- Okay, wait." Emma dances away from her. "For real, uh, Granny's." She desperately grabs onto her first flash of inspiration and runs with it. God bless Ruby. "Everybody likes Granny's right? I'll get you any milkshake you want. You can even do the one dollar deluxe upcharge. You know, where she sprinkles in the crushed up candy bars?"

Regina shakes her head. "Root beer float."

"Done."

"Side of onion rings."

"Even doner." Emma grins, pleased with the sudden turn around. "When do you want em?"

"I'm not doing anything now."

"Oh, uh-" Emma had meant to drop Regina off some takeout on a random Saturday but, well, she's not doing anything either…

What's the harm?

-

Cora and Zelena seem to find the fact that they’re going to the diner unreasonably funny, but judging by the murderous look on Regina’s face it’s not something Emma should risk her life to comment on. Instead, she’s silent until they’re safely out of the house.

"So," Emma wanders down the street beside Regina, hands stuffed into her pockets, "how did you know to find me in the game when you worked out your little revenge plot?" She keeps her voice light so Regina knows she's not still sore about it.

Regina's lips twist in thought for a moment. "You let slip what game you were playing when you were apologizing for forgetting about me."

"I didn't forget about you," Emma whines for the umpteenth time. "I just, you know, forgot to look at the clock. I forgot about the concept of time, if anything."

Regina's hum is amused. "Well, whatever you forgot, it ended up with me wasting a good chunk of my Saturday waiting around for you."

Emma winces. “I really am sorry. But you know, if you want to be mad at anyone you should be mad at James. He’s the one who got me so frustrated I forgot how clocks worked.”

Regina rolls her eyes. “I already agreed to help. You don’t have to keep trying to get me all riled up about him. I already know he’s an asshole and I’ll be happy to help you set him on virtual fire.”

It’s the word fire that sparks Emma’s memory and has her smile dropping. “Wait a minute, I’m not how you found out about the game. You already played with me before the day I missed our meetup. I remember.”

“Oh, right.” Regina has her hands clasped behind her back and her gaze firmly on the ground as she walks. “I guess we’ll just chalk it up to a happy coincidence then.” Her tone is calm, though there’s color in her cheeks that betrays…something.

Emma scowls and gives up on fishing for a straight answer. “You talk like a grandma,” she says instead of pressing further. “You and Mary Margaret should start a club.”

Regina’s cackle is downright malicious. “She wishes.”

-

Emma tackles a monstrous chocolate shake while Regina daintily sips at her float and they share a plate of onion rings between them. On the way over Emma had been afraid sitting across the booth from Regina and not having any schoolwork to discuss might make things a little awkward, but apparently she needn’t have worried.

“Okay, so, what’s their team composition like?”

When it comes to online battle, Regina is meticulous in planning out her strategies. They leech a pen off a passing waitress and Emma watches, bemused as Regina jots down notes on a napkin as though she's an actual general ready to start a war.

First, she starts by detailing the enemy. Emma helps her out, being rather familiar with the enemy guild after all of her run ins with James, but mostly focuses on the snacks. She dunks her rings in generous mounds of mayo before enjoying hearty mouthfuls. Regina, meanwhile, is quite studious about the process of eating her own. She delicately breaks the batter open to pull out the long thread of onion inside without damaging its shell too much. Once it's free, she eats the onion first, then enjoys the fried batter separately.

Emma considers her all the while and thinks, amused, that Regina might actually be a little weirder than she thought.

"I don't know all of the intricacies yet," Regina says, "so you'll have to help me out with strengths and weaknesses and things."

Emma nods along. "Rogues and Shapeshifters have shit defense. I know from my own character Adventurers are okay, but Knights can tear through them pretty easily. Their Knight, James, is the one we always have to worry about, but now that we've got a Black Mage as good as you we're gonna cut through him no problem."

Regina is too busy writing to be flattered. Emma pouts a bit when she glances up expectantly, waiting for more info, before elaborating further.

After a few minutes they have a pretty comprehensive list.

_Fight Club Guild:_

_OneManArmy - Knight - High strength and physical defense/two-handed weapon/long reach/slow attack speed/low magical defense_

_GiantSlayerGurl - Adventurer - Balanced defense and offense/medium attack speed/One-handed swords + daggers_

_PrinceOfThieves97 - Rogue - Low physical defense and offense/high attack speed/Primarily uses bows_

_CrookedPirate36 - Rogue - Low physical defense and offense/high attack speed/Primarily uses daggers_

_LadiesMan123 - Shapeshifter - Transformation gives huge speed + strength stat boost/Limited to dagger + lower offense in normal form_

_MadRadHatter - Black Mage - Low physical defense + low attack/High magic attack/Primarily uses ice based attacks_

Regina taps the napkin with the edge of the pen thoughtfully before nodding. "Okay, I can work with this. Though I do have a few stipulations."

"Stipulations?" Emma waves an onion ring in front of her face. "These aren't, uh, stipulating enough?"

Regina raises her eyebrows, but mercifully doesn't mock her. "I thought this was you making up to me. Earning my help is a whole other beast."

Wow, what a little opportunist.

"Fine," Emma groans, "so what else do you want? Dessert? Cause I gotta say, I'm getting kind of full."

Regina shakes her head. "I'll let you know when we meet with the rest of the group."

"Meet?" Emma blinks dumbly.

The look she's met with is downright condescending. "Obviously we don't want to be working together for the first time on the day of the big fight. That's just asking for disaster."

"Oh, right." Emma clears her throat. "Obviously."

-

The walk back to Regina's place is warm, even with the setting sun. They take their time, sticking to sidewalks rather than cutting across lawns, and chatting about just how happy they are to have summer at last in their sights.

"You know, I'm glad I got stuck with you in the end. For the project I mean." Regina looks too proud of herself so Emma throws in a hasty, "even if you are a pain in the butt." She ignores the sound of protest. "It's nice not having to worry about scrambling to get everything done on the last day. I can tell some of the other groups are starting to sweat a bit."

"Well if they didn't insist on goofing off instead of taking advantage of the time that Mr. Glass allots then-"

" _God_ you're an old lady." Emma laughs. "What tragic event traumatized you as a baby?" 

Regina, Emma thinks, looks really pretty when she laughs. Especially when the sun is setting behind her. When her eyes are bright and her shoulders relaxed in a way they never are during class, and even just a few moments later when she's hesitating on her front stoop like maybe she doesn't want to go inside just yet.

Emma stands on her front walk, hands stuffed in her pockets, feeling even more out of place now that she's back at this fricken mansion. Looking up at Regina on the stoop, she feels pretty small. Rough and tumble orphan Emma at the gates of the palace.

"So," she drawls, a little awkward, not sure how to say goodbye. The toe of her sneaker twists into the gravel path. "We'll get everyone together on Friday, then?"

"Friday," Regina agrees with a nod.

"Cool." Emma clucks her tongue, gaze darting about the immaculate yard. "Well, until then, try not to cyberbully me anymore, huh?" Regina laughs again and Emma can't help but grin, pleased with her success. "It's not great for my emotional well being."

"I'll do my best." Even though she rolls her eyes, Regina's still smiling and that's good enough for Emma.

She takes a half step back. It's time to go, but she finds herself shifting between her feet, reluctant. "Uh, hit me up if you have any more stipulations." There's a pause long enough that she quickly blurts, "I'm always down for onion rings," just to fill it. 

The way Regina tilts her head, how she looks a little like she might be laughing _at_ her than with her, makes Emma's cheeks heat.

"I just mean," she rubs at the back of her neck, "like-"

Regina steps down off the porch and presses a quick kiss to Emma's cheek.

"I'll see you in class." She turns and disappears inside the house before Emma can register what just happened.

"Uh-" For a good fifteen seconds, Emma stands on Regina's front walk, blinking dumbly.

Eventually she shakes out of her stupor enough to stumble home. A little dopey and a lot confused. 

-

The group is apparently overjoyed to hear that Regina has deigned to assist them in their fictional war. Their enthusiasm building as they feed off one another, quickly building into outright confidence.

"I think that's a good idea."

"Yeah, and we can save a couple little fetch quests to run through with her too, just to see how we gel."

"Maybe we shouldn't play as much by ourselves leading into the fight then. To save some stuff to do with her."

"But we have to keep practicing to stay sharp!"

"Are you okay, Emma?" It's Belle who notices her absence in the group's conversation because, well, of course it is. "You've been very quiet since you got back."

"Yeah, um," Emma sits at her computer alone in her room, headphones clamped over her ears as she only half listens to the battle plans, "I'm here. Sorry. I'm paying attention."

Ruby's sharp laugh bursts against her ear. "Dude, why you acting so shady?"

"I'm not. I just-" Emma scratches at her head, nose wrinkled. "I think I just kind of went on a sorta...date, maybe?" 

"You _what_ ?" It's nearly enough to shatter her eardrums. "With who?" A pause. "With _Regina_?"

"Please don't screech into you mic, Ruby," Mary Margaret sighs.

"This is screech-worthy," she defends. "What happened? Did she blackmail you?” A gasp. “Did the mayor?"

"Nobody blackmailed me." Emma's cheeks warm. "It just kind of happened."

"That's not how dates work."

"Well, this one did," she shifts in her seat, "maybe." She wants to talk about it, work out what exactly happened but- Well, showing any amount of vulnerability in front of Ruby is as good as a death sentence. Still, at least she has everyone else around to temper the her. Emma takes a steadying breath. "So, like, I said I'd get her something at Granny's so she'd help us out, and then she said we should go together, and then we walked there and, you know, had a kind-of-date." She sighs. "I think. Probably not though, right?"

Instead of anything helpful, Mary Margaret squeaks, "That's so cute," in a high, delighted voice.

"Very," Belle agrees.

And, because he's apparently a literal dad, David adds, "I hope you walked her home too," in a very serious sort of voice.

Emma rolls her eyes. "Right to the door. Anyways, when we said goodbye she kinda kissed me." The decibels Mary Margaret reaches are inhumane. "On the cheek," Emma hastily clarifies to try to reign her back in some but it only seems to make it worse.

_"That's even better,"_ she cries while Ruby booms, "My little girl is growing up and going on diner dates!"

Emma winds up having to pull off her headphones until the hysteria dies down. "Let's not make it a big thing," she manages to cut in after a few moments. "It's not like she said anything. Maybe it was just friendly, I dunno. It seems kinda weird for her to like me, doesn't it? She's like, super rich. Her house is even fancier than you think, guys, it was crazy."

"What does money have to do with it?" Ruby asks.

"I dunno." Emma shrugs even though her friends can't see it, cheeks close to burning now. "I mean, she's like a higher class, right?"

A long pause. Then-

"Wow, calm down, Aladdin."

"You know what I mean," Emma grumbles, sinking low in her chair at this new humiliation. "Besides, I don't even know if she's gay or bi or whatever. She could just be one of those people who is touchy-feely with her friends."

"Yeah, Because Regina Mills is always all over the halls at school, hugging everyone in sight."

"Can we just play the game?" Emma snaps. She's had just enough of Ruby's mockery for one day.

Unfortunately, Ruby isn't ready to gracefully back down and the rest of Emma's 'friends' don't seem inclined to stop her anytime soon. "Just tell me, did you or did you not hold hands under the table?"

"Shut up."

"Did your poor little heart pitter patter every time your gazes locked?"

"I'll kick you out of this fucking party. You know I will."

"That's a dollar for the swear jar," Mary Margaret sings.

"Yo," Though it certainly hadn't meant to be helpful, Mary Margaret's comment at last distracts Ruby from her teasing, "we should let Emma use that to take her lady friend out on the town. Take her out on a proper date. Like, I know I should be drumming up business for Granny's and all that but it's not exactly a romantic setting."

"She does probably go there a lot with her family," Belle agrees.

"Maybe that made her more comfortable though?" David adds.

"Could be," Mary Margaret says.

"Oh my god," Emma drops her forehead to her desk with a loud thud, "I hate all of you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, My girlfriend and I were friends for about two years before we got together. I had no idea she liked me. She held my hand and I was like, "Oh I guess she likes to hold hands with her friends, okay" and then she started kissing me on the cheek occasionally and I was like, "I guess she likes to kiss her friends on the cheek when she says goodbye, that's nice," and then one sleepover she was finally forced to full on sit in my lap and kiss me on the lips and i was like, "Wait....you like like me?!?!" No idea why she still sticks around tbh.
> 
> Second half coming soon...ish...I hope...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The great irony is that I haven't been uploading because I've been playing too many video games to write anything substantial. Don't that just beat all. 
> 
> Welcome to part two where everything is even dumber and Emma is way too gay to function.

Within two minutes of their first official play session featuring the newest member of their guild, Emma is smacked in the face with just what sort of stipulations Regina was talking about.  
  
"We're changing the name of the guild." Regina's voice fills Emma's headphones with such raw confidence that she, like everyone else in the group apparently, doesn't even know how to begin to argue. "It feels racist."  
  
Emma's eyes widen. "Woah, that's not at all how we meant it."  
  
"I don't care how you meant it. You’re all white and that's how it comes across." She hums in thought. "From now on you're the Queen's Knights and I'm guild leader."  
  
"What?" Emma squawks. "You can't mutiny on your first day."  
  
"Really?" Regina's voice is dripping with practiced innocence. "How come I just did?"  
  
The collective snickering of her friends is deafening as Emma sits, mouth agape at the sudden turn.  
  
"All those in favor of becoming the Queen's Knights and making me leader?"  
  
There is a resounding chorus of enthusiastic 'aye's across the board that leaves Emma spluttering.  
  
"Guys, what the fuck?"  
  
Ruby giggles. "Sorry, Ems. You know we're all weak for take-charge women."  
  
"Don't worry," Regina's voice is softer now, coated in a silky sort of condescension, "prove yourself worthy and maybe I'll make you captain of the guard."  
  
"This is bullshit," Emma mutters, even as she sets about the slow process of shifting power to their new recruit. "Just don't spend all our gold on your dumb dresses."

-

Despite a little bit of rockiness, they all work together fairly well.  
  
Ruby seems delighted to have another member on the team who is able to give as good as she gets snark-wise and Belle pretty much gets along with anyone who proves not to be a complete asshole. David too is laid back enough it's basically impossible for him to have friction with much of anybody. Mary Margaret though-  
  
She's trying. Emma can tell she really is. But the girl just doesn't know how to play it cool. She's so desperate for any sign of acknowledgement, her character tailing Regina's all over the Enchanted Forest like a puppy, but Regina outright refuses to engage. She steadfastly ignores her at every turn, the group chat awkwardly silent whenever Mary Margaret sends a question her way. Emma thinks it's needlessly cruel, but like hell is she going to risk Regina's quiet wrath turning on her by saying that out loud. She has her own problems to worry about.

At least Regina's takeover is more in title than anything. It's apparently more a joke to wind Emma up rather than an actual grab for power. Everyone still defers to Emma throughout the handful of small quests they complete. They may technically work for Regina now, but Emma still pulls the strings and finds she honestly doesn't mind the change so much.  
  
What she _does_ mind is when they all log off for the night and she's suddenly flooded with text messages.  
  
**Ruby:** _Dude u r fucking whipped 0.o_  
  
and  
  
**Belle:** _I think that went rather well. When are you going to call her next?_  
  
and  
  
**Mary Margaret:** _If you guys talk privately then you have to tell me everything asap!!! <3_  
  
and  
  
**David:** _Make sure you message her personally some way to wish her goodnight_  
  
Emma ignores all of them to crawl into bed and shove a pillow over her face. They're all terrible. The whole reason she'd brought up the dumb kiss in the first place was because she wasn't sure what it meant, and they're all acting like it's totally obvious without even talking it through with her.  
  
Ugh.  
  
Emma doesn't even know if-  
  
She's never thought about girls that way before. Never thought about boys all that much either. She likes Regina. Thinks she's funny, when she's not being impossible. Thinks she's nice, even under all the sarcasm. And she's definitely pretty.  
  
Really pretty.  
  
Like, probably the prettiest girl Emma knows.  
  
So there's that.  
  
Or whatever.  
  
Ugh.  
  
Emma presses the pillow down over her face and groans into it. What constitutes liking over _like_ liking? And what if Emma realizes she _like_ likes Regina and tells her and Regina only _likes_ her and Emma makes an ass out of herself for bringing up the concept of _like_ liking at all? That would just about be the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to her.  
  
"Oh my, what's going on in here?"  
  
Emma peeks out from under her pillow to find Ingrid sticking her head into the room, a bemused smile on her face.  
  
"Nothing, I'm just dying is all."  
  
"Sounds serious."

-

They only manage to play together that once before judgement day arrives. Still, everyone gets along for the most part (sorry Mary Margaret) and Regina is coming in with enough skill she doesn't need much in the way of coaching. They have as good of a chance as surviving this on top as they ever will.   
  
It's kind of embarrassing, getting ready for the Big Fight.  
  
Emma wakes up nervous, her heart in her throat like something important is going down. But when seven o'clock comes Emma is just sitting alone in her room, fingers on keys. She's got a glass of water and a handful of crackers with peanut butter slathered on top and she's feeling awfully dumb as she moves her avatar towards the designated battle zone.  
  
Non-loserly kids are probably enjoying a rousing bout of competitive sports right about now.  
  
Or, like, doing anything but this.   
  
Ruby is already waiting at the meeting point and raring to go. Mary Margaret and David are just behind Emma. Their characters walk together as closely as they possibly can without merging into a single avatar. Emma has the sickening impression that David had virtually "picked her up" so that he could play escort. Belle's timely arrival is the only thing that keeps her from gagging.  
  
Across the field their enemies are gathering. James first, his lackeys slowly filing in one after the other behind him. A small crowd begins to gather as well. Rubberneckers likely brought on by James' propensity for being an insufferable braggart.  
  
Even through a computer screen, there's a sort of tension in the air. Calm before the storm. Emma finds herself torn between wanting to laugh at herself and fending off the butterflies batting around her tummy.  
  
"You made sure she knows where we're meeting right?" It's Belle who asks, the first to betray what none of them want to acknowledge.  
  
There are seven minutes left before the first punch can be legally thrown. Everyone is accounted for and ready to start. So where the hell is Regina?  
  
"She knows this place better than I do." Ruby snorts. "Doubt she's lost. I told her, and she didn't seem confused about it."  
  
"She still has time," Mary Margaret says. "We've got ten minutes."  
  
"Six," Emma corrects, eyes darting to the clock at the bottom of her screen. She bites her lip. What if Regina has the wrong time? Or even the wrong day?  
  
"Do you think we should call her?" David asks.  
  
"I'll call her," Mary Margaret offers way too quickly to be natural.  
  
Ruby groans long and low. "Dude, reign in the thirst."  
  
"I think Emma should call her," Belle says.   
  
"That's a good idea," David agrees.  
  
Ruby cackles. "Yeah, Emma, call your girlfriend, will ya?"  
  
"Oh my god," Emma hisses, "can we not?"  
  
"Not what?" Ruby speaks in a slow voice, over exaggerating every word. "We're just telling you to check in with your giiiiiiiiiirlfri-"  
  
"She could long in and hear you any second please just _shh_ ."  
  
"I texted her." Mary Margaret's cheery voice overtakes the chat, distracting Emma from the burn in her cheeks. "She hasn't answered yet."  
  
"Oh dear," Belle sighs.  
  
"She's never gonna answer if it's _you_ ," Ruby mutters.  
  
"She might." Even as she defends herself, Mary Margaret doesn't sound all that confidant. "Maybe..."  
  
"Hey guys?" David's voice cracks at the end. "I, uh, I think James might be getting impatient."  
  
Emma rotates her camera so she can get a good look at their enemies across the field. James' knight has his greatsword unsheathed and his lackeys are making good use of the taunt gestures from the chat menu.  
  
"What do you mean 'might'?" Ruby asks. "Aren't you guys in the same room?"  
  
A beat.  
  
"David brought his laptop to my house," Mary Margaret answers for him. "We want to make sure we can really fight as a team."  
  
"Gross." Ruby gags as if she wouldn't lug her gear over to Belle's in a hot second if the other girl so much as hinted she wanted her there.  
  
"Just two more minutes," Belle warns.  
  
Where the hell is Regina? She'd seemed so on board with the whole idea, even if she'd been more than a little mocking. Emma's sure she'd been genuinely excited to hand James his ass.  
  
Had something happened to her?  
  
Maybe she'd gotten grounded and banned from screens for the weekend. Maybe her laptop had gotten a virus and she couldn't log on.  
  
Maybe the mayoral mansion had caught fire and everyone was trapped inside and-  
  
"One minute."  
  
The Fight Club approaches in a line. Even their pixelated avatars seem smug.  
  
**OneManArmy:** _Did u guys 4get how 2 count or did ur sixth chicken out?_  
  
Emma grits her teeth in frustration.  
  
**SwanPrincess24:** _They'll be here. Even though we could beat u with five._  
  
"Dude," Ruby hisses, "don't give him ideas."  
  
**OneManArmy:** _We r not waiting. Thirty Seconds._  
  
_"_ Okay, teasing aside, I think it's time Emma texts Regina now," Belle says.  
  
"But I already did," Mary Margaret whines.  
  
She goes ignored.  
  
"Call her," David urges Emma instead.  
  
Emma shifts in her seat, eyes darting to her cellphone where it rests on the desk beside her. Like, yeah, she _could_ , but what if Regina answers? And then Emma has to remind her about this dumb thing that she probably forgot about completely because it's so lame and then Emma is going to look dumb by extension and clingy for calling her so fast after they'd just hung out and Regina is going to think she's so totally not cool and-  
  
"Emma?" Belle.  
  
**OneManArmy:** _Fifteen seconds_  
  
Or what if Regina doesn't answer at all because she _already_ thinks Emma is totally not cool and Emma has to leave a clingy sounding message that makes her look even _more_ lame and Regina rolls her eyes and deletes it without ever listening to it because she just wants to be left alone and-  
  
**OneManArmy:** _Five_  
  
"Anytime now, Boss." Ruby.  
  
Emma snatches her phone and punches in a quick, _Hey there!_  
  
She stares at it for a moment before promptly deleting.  
  
Too excited sounding...  
  
**OneManArmy:** _Four_  
  
"If she didn't answer me," Mary Margaret says, "I don't see why she would answer Emma right away-"  
  
"Oh my god," Ruby groans.  
  
**OneManArmy:** _Three_  
  
_Howdy_ , Emma writes.  
  
Howdy??  
  
Emma closes out of the messenger app altogether.  
  
Who the hell says howdy?  
  
She's never said howdy in her whole life.  
  
**OneManArmy:** _Two_  
  
With a sigh, Emma goes back into a fresh thread and settles on sending Regina a nice, simple-  
  
James smacks her in the face with a flaming greatsword.  
  
Well, he smacks her _avatar_ in the face, but it feels a little bit like her face. It's definitely her pride that gets shattered at the very least.  
  
_Hold on!_ Ruby types  
  
_We didn't say start!!_ Belle types  
  
_Don't be an asshole!!!_ David types.  
  
Which for David is like, wow, strong words.   
  
_Fuck off!!!!_ James responds.  
  
But then he's the one who gets a great rush of fire to the face. Swirling magic that wraps around his character, a hefty damage counter popping up over his head.  
  
_EvilQueen2003 has entered the chat_  
  
"Damn!" Ruby cackles in delight as James' avatar is bowled over by the force of the blast. "Talk about an entrance."  
  
"Sorry I'm late," Regina drawls. "I meant to be here at the agreed upon time but somehow I forgot how clocks worked."  
  
"Oh my god," Emma cries while laughter erupts all around her. "Are you kidding me?"  
  
"That's so petty I'm not even mad," Ruby manages through her giggles.   
  
Emma doesn't face the same issue. "I can't believe you-"  
  
"Less whining more fighting, Captain." Regina's words are sugary sweet condescension. "You're taking quite the beating."  
  
James and his buddies have had no qualms keeping up the pressure in their distraction.   
  
"You heard the woman." Ruby's sheer glee is probably the worst part about all of this. "Places troops."

And so they fight.


	8. Chapter 8

The battle is...well it's a bit anticlimactic.

They're at a disadvantage from the get go, James jumping on them like that. But eventually they're able to maneuver themselves into their planned formations and, after that, everything becomes pretty monotonous.  
  
Belle stays well away from the action and focuses on buffing up the party as needed, keeping defenses high and attacks sharp and health bars in the green. David circles her, a sponge. He soaks up as much of the damage sent her way as he can. Prime directive for everyone is keeping Belle alive as long as possible, after all. Mary Margaret helps on that front as well. Her character sticking close to the pair and firing off irritating arrows as often as possible. The damage from a single hit isn't significant, but she's quick enough the blows add up.  
  
On the front lines Ruby and Emma do their best to keep the heat off Regina. Diving in to land a few blows and then quickly jumping back to let Regina get a few spells in. They rotate smoothly, working in time so that nobody is left open during their recovery period and a steady stream of blood-red damage numbers fill the screen in front of them.  
  
Their strategies play out exactly as intended, and it would be thrilling if their enemy wasn't so...well, so stupid. They clearly don't have a plan. Haven't prepared in the slightest. They're not trying to take out Belle and put an end to the healing. They're not going after Regina to hit the target with the lowest physical defense first and put an end to her wide reaching fire spells.  
  
They're ganging up on Emma like a bunch of idiots because James has a hate boner for her.  
  
"Well this is enlightening," Regina drawls. "Have you really had trouble with them in the past?"  
  
Ruby snorts in her mic. "Do you think if we took out James the rest of them would just...stop?"

It’s only about fifteen minutes in and already, their victory feels assured.  
  
"We may have over prepared," Belle sighs out when one of Mary Margaret's arrows lands the killing blow on LadiesMan123.  
  
"I don't even think I want to brag about this," Emma says as she sticks her sword through an avatar's gut and sends him to the ground in a heap.  
  
_CrookedPirate36 has fainted_   
  
Another boy takes a swing at her but she rolls out of the way and Regina hits him with a way-too-powerful bolt of lightning. A waste of mana for one target, maybe, but clearly they don't need to conserve it for anything else.  
  
_PrinceOfThieves97 has fainted_  
  
The Fight Club manages to get in more than a few hits, but being so disorganized means nothing amounts to much. The damage they deal is spread over too wide a net.  
  
Emma is too focused to read the messages, but the amount of general chat bubbles popping over their audience's head suggests the crowd is underwhelmed as well. They'd been promised a war and have been presented with a one-sided beat down.  
  
_MadRadHatter has fainted_  
  
"This is embarrassing." David's voice is small through her headphones. Pensive. "I don't get it. He's been so cocky..."  
  
Emma shrugs to herself. "Let's just wrap it up so we can get out of here." She sets her sights on James. Ruby had been joking before, but honestly at this point Emma is pretty sure that the rest are going to scatter as soon as their leader goes down.  
  
She takes a swing at James and the hit lands hard. He chugs a potion when she brings his health bar into the red, but she's hardly bothered. Not having a mage with healing abilities means the whole group has been downing the little green bottles left and right. By Ruby's eagle-eyed count they're down to four potions left between the lot of them.  
  
It won't take long now...  
  
Emma goes in for another wack but she's hit from the side. CrookedPirate36 gets her with his saber. She rolls out of the way of his next swing and Regina puts some distance between them with a wall of fire. Didn't he already-?  
  
The protective flames vanish when Regina is smacked out of the attack animation from behind by an arrow.  
  
PrinceOfThieves97 lands three hits before Belle can get a temporary shield spell around Regina.  
  
Okay he definitely-  
  
"Shit! I'm down! I'm goin' down!"  
  
In her distraction Emma doesn't even realize that LadiesMan123 and GiantSlayerGurl are ganging up on a defenseless Ruby until it's too late.  
  
_MissRidingHood has fainted_  
  
"Hacks," Ruby wails. "What the fuck? We said no Res! Didn't we say no Res?"  
  
CrookedPirate heads for Belle.  
  
_NOOOOO REEEEEES!!!!!!!!!_ Ruby types angrily into the general chat. The words pop up rather pathetically over her crumpled form.  
  
The Fight Club guild doesn't seem able to read her complaints though as they bulk up. Downing stamina and health potions liberally before bearing down on the remnants of the Knights.

So that’s how it’s going to be then.  
  
"Oh sugar!"  
  
_PureAsSnow has fainted_  
  
Emma and Regina stick close together and try their best to make it back to David where he's been pinned down, doing his best to shield Belle. But he's only one character and there are three others surrounding him, weapons drawn. Low as her defense is, even with his protection Belle doesn't last long.  
  
"Shoot."  
  
_BooksAndCleverness has fainted_   
  
That's what really sets Ruby off. Which would be cute if it wasn't so nerdy.  
  
"I'm sick of this shit. Like hell they're getting away with this."  
  
_YOU A**HOLES R USING RES ITEMS & R OVER POTION LIMIT_, she types. _AUTO LOSS_  
  
If they've automatically lost though, the Fight Club guild doesn't seem to care. Emma and an oddly silent Regina are back to back and still doing their best to get to David. It's six against three now and they can't let themselves stay separated for long if they want any chance of getting out of this mess. They're overwhelmed though. James slashing at them with GiantSlayer and LadiesMan at his back while CrookedPirate and PrinceOfThieves whittle away what's left of David's health.  
  
"I don't think they're going to listen," Belle sighs out.  
  
Mary Margaret makes a pained, frustrated sound low in her throat. Helpless to stop their inevitable loss.  
  
"Fuck it," Ruby snaps. "If they want to fight dirty then let's fight dirty. Resurrect us all, Emma. Get me back in there."  
  
"I can't," Emma grits out as she tries to deflect James' onslaught with her own blade. "I took all that kind of stuff out of my inventory because I didn't come into this with the intention of fricking _cheating_."  
  
The sound Ruby makes is utterly inhuman.  
  
The crowd around their battlefield is getting chatty again. Emma can make out the text boxes popping up in her peripheral but can't spare the attention to decipher their contents.  
  
Outnumbered, her focus is on defending as much as she can. Really though, they're just waiting out the clock. So long as the Fight Club is cheating like this, there's no chance in hell Emma's team can pull out the win. It's only a matter of time.  
  
She wonders--as James bats away her guard so that he can have the satisfaction of killing her in a virtual game for...whatever reason--what it must feel like. To be so desperate for victory that you cheat at something that in the grand scheme of your life doesn't-- _shouldn't_ \--really matter. To be so hateful that you take pleasure in making other people feel inferior. To be so rotten that the group you surround yourself with can't be called friends. Not really. Not when they'd no doubt ditch you the second they caught wind of something better, or more interesting, or more powerful.  
  
James is a kid that's gotten so unpleasant in his grief, so angry, that even his own twin doesn't want to spend time with him. Someone who is so bad at dealing with the pain he's in, that he doesn't know what to do but spend his free time on the computer bullying people he can't be bothered to know.  
  
It's sad.  
  
Pathetic.  
  
Pitiful.  
  
...  
  
And it's also kind of funny.  
  
Emma bites her lip.  
  
James is so desperate to beat them at a fake war he started for attention, that he planned on cheating from the get go even when there was a decent chance of him winning if he'd just taken two seconds out of his trolling routine to practice. Honestly, with the amount of potions they've been downing, it must have taken so long to find all the materials to craft them...  
  
Has he actually put more effort into cheating than he would have if he'd just risked a fair fight?  
  
It's just...this is just...so... _stupid_.  
  
She presses her lips together to fight the amusement bubbling up within her.  
  
"I'm so mad I can't even see straight." Ruby.  
  
"There has to be something we can do." Mary Margaret.  
  
"Maybe we should all log off in protest?" Belle.  
  
"He'll just take that as a forfeit," David says. Then he lets out a grunt of frustration as the inevitable happens.  
  
_ShinyArmoredHero has fainted_  
  
Except his character doesn't just crumple in a neat pile like the others, because this is a cheap game and can quite honestly be glitchy as fuck. So instead of crumpling, instead of delicately fainting, the slash from CrookedPirate's sword sends David's avatar careening. He comically flies back, his massive bulk ragdolling across the field as though gravity no longer applies.  
  
As her friends cry out in protest, Emma hears it. A soft, stifled snort.

Suddenly she knows why Regina has been so quiet in the face of this injustice.

A smile plays at Emma's lips as she pictures Regina in her room on the other side of town. Sitting straight backed in her computer chair, posture perfect even behind closed doors. Maybe she's in her pajamas already. Maybe that plush horse rests in her lap. Maybe she has her hands resting lazily on the keys to halfheartedly fight a battle she has no choice but to lose, doing her best not to laugh at this whole overdramatic mess. 

_Running out of human shields b*tch,_ James types as if this is some kind of hammy action movie and he's not just a punk kid making an ass out of himself.

Despite her best efforts, a giggle slips past Emma's control at last. And even if her other friends don't hear it over their complaints, Regina must, because she answers with a quiet laugh of her own. Emma grins at the sound. She feels light, suddenly. Giddy.

Good.

She feels good. And riding high on that feeling, secure in the act of feeling it, in knowing that as long as he insists on being this way James never will, she drops her character's guard.

 _FOR THE QUEEN!!!_ She types before charging blindly into certain death.

Regina laughs fully at last. A sharp sound of surprise she's unable to mask.

"Emma, what the hell?" Ruby squawks.

"We die like men," Emma shoots back. She manages all of one hit to James' crotch before an arrow from the Prince and a quick slice from SlayerGurl's dagger force her to the ground in a heap.

James stands over her virtual corpse, triumphant, and Emma gleefully decides she doesn't give one single fuck.

 _U died on purpose,_ he accuses.

 _Tell my son..._ , she types in response, _I never...*cough*...really liked him...*wheeze*...that much...._

"Oh my god," Ruby groans while David chokes on a laugh.

"Emma," Belle scolds, aiming for stern but faltering under her clear amusement.

 _What the hell!?!_ James and his crew have apparently been confused into inaction. They stand around her fallen form, ignoring Regina completely as they try to work out the point of Emma's stunt. _You stopped trying._

She ignores him. _I can't...believe we...failed..._ She's getting surprisingly in character. _Now we'll have to *gurgle*...go...out...side... *Dying gasp*_

 _STFU!_ Is all she gets in reply.

"You're ridiculous," Mary Margaret pouts.

Emma leans back in her chair, content. She'd gotten so worked up about this, she'd forgotten the obvious. The most basic fact about bullies dating back to the very beginning of time. People like this who thrive on attention? The worst insult possible to them is an enemy who genuinely doesn't care.

She has a feeling this moment is going to be bothering James for a long time.

"So," Regina drawls, amusement clear in her voice, "should I just leave or...?"

"Make them chase you." Emma scooches her chair back so she can put her feet on the desk while she enjoys one of her crackers. "Technically if they don't catch you we can't lose."

Mary Margaret hums in good humor. "That's actually true. We decided on a meet up point, but we didn't set limits. Nowhere was labeled as out of bounds."

Ruby snorts, her irritation keeping her from joining in the fun. "Because they clearly care so much about the rules."

David doesn't appear to have any such hang ups though. "Mom will definitely make him go to school," he says. "Regina, you just have to run away from them until school starts on Monday and we're golden."

That at last cracks through Ruby's rage. She chokes out a laugh that catches quickly over their chat, everyone joining in. They laugh at James, and the absurdity of this whole war, and at how they'd wasted a perfectly good Saturday night. 

_This is so cheap._ The words pop up over an avatar Emma's never come across before. Someone on the outskirts of the crowd that makes up their audience. _Fight Club is full of cheating d*cks._

"Now they get it," Ruby cheers through her giggles.

 _Yeah_ , someone else types, _f**K em!_

"Oh my," Belle muses as a handful of players break off from the group to charge into the fray.

They swarm Regina's avatar, getting between her and her attackers. She takes the opportunity to slip into the background as her new champions take on the Fight Club. A couple mages and a knight tearing into James with surprising venom.

"We should have hired these guys in the first place," David says, still chuckling.

That's not the end of it though, because apparently the Kinghts have as many detractors as supporters.

 _Don't mess with their fight_ , one person types, jumping in to try and stop the interlopers.

 _Don't f*ck w the Fight Club_ , somebody else joins in.

 _THIS IS SPARTAAAAAA!!!!_ Another player shouts before charging.

The complete randomness of it sets everyone off all over again and Emma slumps in her chair, arms holding her throbbing stomach as she laughs. Chaos breaks out on screen. Audience and performers meld into a blob of violent activity, hacking and slashing at random. Chat bubbles pop up all over the place, but are covered by new ones before they can be read. Alerts of low health and deaths flood the screen. It's absolute insanity, and Emma loves every second of it.

"This is wild." Mary Margaret.

"I think we broke the game." David.

"I can't even tell what's happening right now." Belle.

"Yeah, I'm just going to walk away." Regina sounds rather pleased with herself. "I don't think they could even get to me to stop me."

Emma sits back and watches and enjoys her friends amusement as they bask in their victory. Moral, not literal.

The group calms as the mindless war rages on in front of them, passive spectators in the battle they'd started. Eventually, Ruby lets out a contented sigh.

"So, milkshake PJ party at Granny's?"


	9. Chapter 9

Ingrid winds up driving her because she doesn't like Emma out on the bike after dark. "Just text me a few minutes before you're ready to be picked up," she calls out the car window as Emma heads up the walk to the diner. Hood of her sweatshirt pulled up over her messy hair, worn bottoms of her too-long pajama pants dragging at her heels, Emma ducks inside. She feels a bit grubby out in the 'real world' in these clothes, hands clammy at the idea of letting Regina see her like... _this_...but Ruby had insisted they all take part in the pajama party festivities.

Any self consciousness she'd been feeling vanishes quickly when she finds her friends already clogging up the large booth in the back corner, every one of them in well worn sleepwear. She can't help the grin that steals her lips as Ruby leaps up to greet her, fuzzy slippers on full display.

"The fearless leader has arrived." Glee plastered all over her face, she ushers Emma into the space she'd just vacated, shoving at her arm until Emma's forced shoulder to shoulder with Regina in the booth.

"Uh, hi," Emma manages while Ruby plops back down beside her in a clear effort to keep her and Regina as close as possible. Emma won't be forgetting this anytime soon.

Regina just smiles tightly in return. She seems a little anxious now. Face to face with everyone without the protection of a computer screen between them. It's endearing, seeing her like this. Softer than at school, less sure of herself and where she fits into the equation.

It helps Emma regain her footing a bit.

Regina's wearing a sweater too, baggy around her tiny frame. The rest of her outfit is in insultingly good condition for being sweatpants though. They're a little long for her, the name of what must be Zelena's university printed in bold block letters down one thigh. Emma pointedly doesn't look over them for too long. She darts her gaze upwards instead, aiming for casual. Polite. Not-a-totally-weird-creep.

She likes the way Regina has her hair pulled back. How it's loose and a little messy like it was done in a hurry. The tiny curls that have begun to take shape against her neck. The long strand that's slipped out of the elastic to fall across her face. The way she flicks irritably at it to get it out from in front of her furrowed brow and the clear question in her gaze and...oh shit-

"Are you okay?"

Oh _shit_. 

Emma blinks dumbly at her, cheeks warm. "Yeah," she blurts out. "No, why? What?" Caught, she turns to Ruby on her other side for help. "What's up?"

"I asked what kind of shake you wanted." Ruby bites her lip, eyes bright, not even pretending to be supportive. "Like, twice."

"Yeah, I know," Emma says like that doesn't make it worse. "Chocolate. Yeah. That's fine."

"Right." When Ruby slips out of the booth to stand, it's painfully slow. As if she doesn't want to leave and miss a second of this humiliation.

Not ready to face Regina again so soon, Emma looks to the rest of her friends. Belle, David, and Mary Margaret sit on the opposite side of the table, hands folded neatly and beaming these insufferably knowing smiles that have them looking like possessed triplets out of a horror movie. Emma sighs heavily, dropping her head into her hands. So literally not even one of them isn't going to be an asshole about this. Great.

Thankfully, Belle takes pity on her. She talks about the book she's reading, which leads David to talk about the new show he's started, which has Mary Margaret-

Well, Mary Margaret isn't actually all that helpful. She mostly spends her time staring at Regina with sad doe eyes, desperate for acknowledgment. The cringe levels are off the charts. Even worse in person than they are in the chat. But at least even her pining is enough of a distraction that Emma can sit back and pointedly avoid looking anywhere in Regina's direction.

It's a small mercy that Ruby returns quickly, balancing an overcrowded tray on the palm of her hand. A round of milkshakes and a single root beer float are passed around the table, whipped cream piled high. Ruby's also taken the liberty of snagging an order of waffle fries with the works. Cheese and bacon bits loaded onto the large plate.

Emma digs in gleefully with her friends, pushing the thought of the stomachache she's sure to suffer in bed tonight far from mind.

"Okay, I think that's where a draw the line," Regina murmurs under her breath as she watches Emma use one waffle fry to scrape more cheese onto another.

"Party pooper," Emma pouts around a gooey mouthful.

Regina wrinkles her nose.

"Everyone," Ruby declares, tapping the side of her shake with the prongs of her fork, "I'd like to make a toast on this momentous occasion." She raises her glass. "To getting completely wrecked and losing horribly."

"Cheers!"

"Hear, Hear!"

They giggle as they clink their glasses together.

"I've decided to count it as a moral victory," Emma offers when they settle down. "If that helps ease the sting for anybody."

Belle tilts her head to the side. "Hmm, I like that."

"Technically," Regina says, "we didn't lose. As long as I never log in again, they can never kill me."

Mary Margaret blinks. "So we're going to be at an indefinite stalemate until the end of time?"

"Well," Ruby rolls her eyes, "until they're not making enough money to keep the servers running at least."

David chuckles, "Either way, I think I'm going to stick with some single player stories for awhile, if it's all the same."

They can all toast to that.

-

Regina remains quiet, but her shoulders relax the more time she spends in their company. Emma appreciates how much of an effort everyone makes to let Regina feel more included--Mary Margaret's awkward staring aside. They explain inside jokes that crop up and let her in on old stories. David offers to loan her the DVD of the movie they chat about and Belle invites her along to her next library raid.

And while everybody talks, feeling one another out, forming bonds and establishing dynamics, Emma soaks in the soothing hum of Regina's presence. Because alone in her room she's been tossing and turning in bed over the idea of liking versus _like_ liking and everything that that entails. Here actually with Regina though, elbows bumping and shoulders brushing and snacks steadily dwindling down, to contemplate the idea of liking versus _like_ liking seems so silly.

She's hyper aware of Regina's every movement. The way she picks at the fries on the very edge of the plate where there's hardly any cheese. How she eats them slowly, pulling apart each strand of the hatching before every bite. How when she laughs it's a muffled sound, like maybe she's trying to hold it back but can't help herself. Which is frankly cuter than it has any right to be.

_Obviously_ Emma _like_ likes her.

Duh.

They linger for longer than they probably should. Straws nosily sucking air at the bottom of empty glasses. Forks scraping at what's left of the bacon bits dotted about their plate. Families around them leave. People with a case of late night sweet tooth dart in to snatch take out bags filled with desserts. Eventually they're the only ones left, and Ruby's grandmother is forced to come over and shoo them away with a dishrag. "Get out of here, I want to go home."

-

It's warm enough for them to loiter around on the patio furniture outside while they wait for their rides. Mary Margaret and David are the first to go. Belle not long after. Ruby waits with them "just to make sure nobody gets snatched on her home turf" and sits beside Emma atop a picnic table while Regina lingers down the walkway a bit, craning her neck to get a good view of the street.

"Your mom coming?" Ruby asks.

"Sister, probably." Regina sighs when headlights flash by at the far end of the road. "That's her."

A car screeches to a dramatic halt in front of the diner. The window rolls down and booming music washes out in an overwhelming wave. The car rattles and shakes at the force of the beat. Zelena sticks her head out. She's wearing a wide grin and massive sunglasses despite the fact it's well after eleven and the moon is high in the sky. "What up, losers?"

"Oh my god," Regina groans under her breath before hurrying to the passenger side. 

"See ya!" Ruby calls. She nudges Emma with the sharp point of her elbow.

"Uh, yeah, see- see you in Econ," Emma manages.

Regina flashes a strained smile before ducking into the car. A loud cackle from Zelena and then the vehicle takes off like a shot, quickly disappearing into the night.

"That was the coolest bitch I've ever seen in my whole life," Ruby says.

Emma rolls her eyes. "She seems like a lot."

Ruby turns on her, eyes bright, a wolfish grin spread from cheek to cheek.

Emma leans away on instinct. "What?"

"You're gay."

"Shut up."

-

James isn't happy. David reports back to them on his brother's frustrations, sounding a bit smug and maybe a little guilty. Emma braces herself for conflict when they return to school. But when they pass one another on the way to their respective lockers, James pointedly avoids her gaze. He may be an idiot, but it seems even he is smart enough to keep himself from starting trouble after the lunchroom fiasco. The pair still has plenty of eyes on them after all. Going head to head within earshot of any teachers would be way too risky. And since Emma definitely won't be spending any time around that jerk outside of school, he doesn't have a way to harass her any longer.   
  
The guild hasn't logged into the game since the 'war'. Distracted by projects and books and movies and all of the ice cream Ruby keeps dragging them out to get when she has her late night cravings. It's funny, how it works out. Emma enjoys the poetic irony of it. James got exactly what he wanted in the end, just in the exact way he didn't want it.

Beautiful. 

The days leading into summer pass quickly. Emma sleepwalks her way through her final assignments for the year, growing more drowsy the hotter the afternoons get. She works just hard enough to maintain the grades she has, decently strong, even if nobody could accuse her of being an overachiever. Though she's still forced to take her lunches alone, her friends sneak into the library to visit most days. Ruby enjoys pretending to read increasingly ridiculous nonfiction titles as a cover while whispering to Emma over the top of the books.

Regina remains...friendly. She smiles when Emma waves and offers the occasional "hello" when they pass one another in the hall. It's different than that brief time they spent together outside of school though. More distant. Less...

Emma wants to go back. To plotting with Regina and laughing over onion rings and hanging out at the diner in their pajamas. She finds herself staring longingly at the back of Regina's head all throughout Econ, willing the other girl to turn around and make proper eye contact at the very least.

The day of their presentation comes and goes with little fanfare. Emma sweats in front of the class, stumbling over her words and doing her best to power through the material. As anxious as the buildup makes her though, as with all school presentations, when it's over and she's back at her desk and the other students around her look half asleep and like they probably registered a third of what she'd said, it doesn't feel half as important as their teacher had made it out to be.

They get that 'A' Regina was so insistent on. The best part is her pleased smile when their report comes back. The worst part is the sheer arrogance.

"What were you saying about a solid 'B'?"

"Just take the win with grace, Mills."

She doesn't appear capable. Emma doesn't really care. She's just happy for the attention. But then the final bell rings and they pack up their bags for home and it really seems like Regina might be ready to fall back into being casual acquaintances and Emma kind of just wants to scream, "Hi! Remember me? And my cheek? That you kissed?? In maybe a gay way??? What's going on on that front, huh????"

She doesn't, of course.

But she wants to. 

-

Emma slumps across the bar at Granny's and whines about it while Ruby wipes down the counters to scrape up some allowance money for whatever summer shenanigans they're going to get themselves into.

"School's gonna be out, we won't talk all summer, she'll totally forget about me, and by next year she'll be kissing _other_ cheeks!"

Ruby sighs. "Ask her out during the summer then." She slaps the wet rag on the counter and Emma wrinkles her nose. "Don't let her forget you." She says it like it's easy. Like it wouldn't be awkward or painful or life threatening. Ruby eyes her like she's able to read Emma's mind. "It won't kill you." 

"It might."

-

"Start slow if you're too nervous for a proper date." Belle keeps her voice low as they lean over thick books at one of the tiny study tables in the library. Emma doesn't even remember the title of what she's been pretending to read. "Casually show that you're interested in getting to know her better. Share a favorite book-"

At Emma's grimace, Belle lets out a tired, long suffering sigh.

"-A favorite _movie_ then."

Belle really does deserve better friends.

-

"Always go for the rom-com." David juggles the soccer ball gracefully between his knees a couple times before passing it across the grass to Emma. "Easy, simple, light, romantic. Sets the mood completely. States your intention while keeping everything relatively low pressure. Works every time."

"Every time?" Emma repeats, more than a little doubtful.

None of this _feels_ low pressure.

She makes to pass the ball back but the gym teacher blows his whistle to wave their class inside before the bell rings.

David walks next to her, bumping his shoulder playfully against hers as they return to the school. "Every time," he swears.

-

"That never works." Mary Margaret turns her nose up at the very suggestion. She stands in the center of her immaculate bedroom, arms crossed and feet firmly planted on an elaborate woven rug in the shape of a bluebird. "Look, I enjoy How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days as much as the next girl-"

Emma pulls a face.

"-but those aren't _your_ moments. They're _other_ people's moments. Fake people!" Her laugh is high pitched and a little frightening. "You have to make your own mark. Don't be so passive about it. What will that tell her?"

"Huh?" Emma's brow furrows.

"Oh dear," Mary Margaret sighs out, rubbing at her forehead. "I'm telling you to take control of your own love story."

" _Love_ story?" Emma splutters.

Mary Margaret continues, unfazed. "Rom-coms, romance novels, those are your inspiration, not your tool. Don't _watch_ a rom-com, _live_ one."

"Uh-" Maybe going to Mary Margaret wasn't a great idea...

"Here." She hurries over to her desk and pulls open a drawer. Neat as it is, it takes only seconds for her to whip out a pamphlet to shove in Emma's face. **_Summer Nights Fun Fair!!!_** it reads in bold red letters over the picture of a Ferries wheel. "A beautiful summer night. Fun, food, games. Then the fireworks start. You're at the top of the Ferris wheel. There's energy."

"Energy?"

"Heat."

"Heat?" Emma squeaks, face warm.

"Oh!" Mary Margaret claps her hands together, eyes sparkling at the very idea, "I can picture it in my mind and it's breathtaking. Just think about it. When you're close to the top of the wheel, there are things happening, eye contact. You lean over and declare your love. She'll return your affections, of course. And then, at the peak, a firework showering you in a beautiful glow, you'll share your first magical kiss as a couple."

That does sound...kind of nice. Maybe. Cheesy, but nice. If Regina really _does_ like her, of course. But love?

Emma doesn't _love_ Regina, does she? This whole Ferris wheel gig seems kind of…serious. Like something from the end of an epic romance where the characters are meant to stay together forever. But, like, Emma just wants to hang out with Regina more. She doesn't know about _forever_. She's a kid. She just thinks Regina is funny and cool and she wants to hold her hand and stuff maybe. Kissing on a Ferris wheel though?

That seems like a big step for someone who hasn't even kissed on the ground before.

-

Her courage fails her until the last week of school when there's absolutely no other choice. It's risk death by embarrassment or walk away forever.

Death by embarrassment it is.

Regina is at her locker attempting to cram a few more textbooks into her already full-to-bursting backpack. Why she's still bothering in the final days when even the teachers have already given up pretending to care is anyone's guess. Emma awkwardly pushes through the crowd of kids scrambling to reach their next class on time, ducking and weaving and squeezing herself into too-small gaps. A hapless salmon flopping its way upstream.

"Hey," Emma squeaks out when she miraculously makes it out of the stampede unscathed.

Though she's clearly surprised, Regina doesn't seem unhappy about Emma's arrival, so that's a plus. "Hey." She closes her locker and spins the knob on the lock as if anybody would ever try to break in to steal her algebra notes. Slinging her bag over her shoulders, she holds tight to the straps, looking at Emma expectantly.

"Uh," a nervous titter slips out of Emma, but she valiantly pushes forward, "so I don't know if you heard about that carnival thing that's happening the weekend after school lets out? Mary Margaret told us all about it and, I dunno, I thought maybe it could be fun to check it out together." She chances a peek at Regina.

"Oh." Regina's gaze darts to the thinning crowds around them and then back to Emma like she might be a bit nervous which is _definitely_ not a good sign. "Well-"

"The whole group is going," Emma blurts out before she's slammed with the full brunt of Regina's inevitable rejection. "It's not like a big thing at all. It's whatever. I don't even care if you don't want to come. It's probably gonna be dumb anyhow."

Regina frowns. "Okay...I was going to say that if I'm welcome I'd like to come but-"

"You would?" Emma perks up, voice rising. At Regina's bewildered expression she quickly reigns her excitement in though. Does her best to play it cool. "Yeah, well, I'll probably go too, I guess."

Brow furrowed, Regina tilts her head. "I would hope so, since you just invited me."

Emma stares at her, cheeks heating. Regina looks torn between amusement and confusion and the only way Emma can think to escape is to blurt, "I have to get to math class," before making a mad dash for her bio lab.

She winds up a full two minutes late to gym. 

She's totally still alive though, so there's that. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, kids, you know what's really embarrassing? Finishing the final upload for a story but somehow forgetting to press post on the last chapter of your fic. 
> 
> ...
> 
> ...Not that I would know...

Figuring she puts enough on Ingrid already, Emma hitches a ride to the carnival in the back of Granny's old station wagon. Technically Ruby should be grounded right now. With school out, their final grades have come in, and things were pretty bleak. Ruby hadn't been bothered though.

"It's not like I failed anything. Who cares?"

Creative use of white out turned a 'D' into a 'C' convincing enough that Granny hadn't managed to decipher the scheme through her scratched up drugstore glasses. So here they are, rattling along down a long dirt road, Emma guilty of deceit through association. Which isn't doing a whole lot to help keep her nausea in check, thanks.

"You excited?" Ruby asks, peering over the back of her seat.

Emma quickly shakes her head.

"Scared?"

Emma shakes her head again.

Ruby grins. "You're scared."

Emma pouts.

They clatter into the parking lot, which is more a sectioned off area of trampled down grass than anything. The wagon splutters to a graceless stop and the girls clamor out.

"Don't kill anyone," Granny shouts through the window as they head for the entrance.

"Okay," Ruby calls back.

"Or anything!"

"Okay!"

"Or each other!"

_"Okay!"_

They're the last to arrive, which is actually a small mercy. Emma is spared from loitering by the gate praying she doesn't get stood up in front of all her friends. Regina is already there, leaning against the border fence and chatting with Belle.

Over their heads the carnival is already in full swing. Shrill bells and horns blare obnoxiously from the fun house. Kids are flying down a giant pink slide on dirty sacks. The Scrambler whizzes round and round, its passengers thrown violently about their seats. Lights flash and buzzers sound and children shriek in delight and in the center of it all, proud and tall, stands the fabled Ferris wheel.

Emma cranes her neck to stare up at it. Mary Margaret's plan runs through her mind. She swallows thickly, dropping her gaze back down to Regina.

Regina. Withdrawn and quiet, hair pulled back and a light sweater hanging over her arms, fading sunlight soft on her skin.

Whelp, here's to living the rom-com.

Ruby nudges Emma with an elbow. "Don't puke on her, yeah? And don’t worry, worst case scenario happens we just fall back on my plan ‘B’.”

Emma pulls a face. “Plan ‘B’?”

But Ruby just grins and skips ahead to meet up with the group, leaving Emma even more troubled than before. 

-

The line for entry moves quickly. Planning to make the most of their night, they hold their hands up to the booth one by one to be graced with tacky neon wristbands. 

Ruby wrinkles her nose as they head inside. "Ugh, I hate it when they get the glue stuck to your arm hair." She rubs at the band with a growl.

"I think," Mary Margaret announces loudly, "I want to go on the swings with David."

His grin is wide and horribly false. "That sounds fun." He holds his arm out like an old school gentleman from a period drama. She slides her arm through it without further prompting and he steers her away.

Not before Mary Margaret throws a totally-not-casual, "Fireworks start at eight-thirty, Emma," over her shoulder though.

Emma's cheeks heat. 

Belle smiles serenely at her. "Ruby was telling me how good she is at the high striker."

Ruby blinks down at her. "I was?"

"I think I'd like to watch her give it a try."

"You would?" At Belle's unimpressed stare, Ruby's eyes widen. She starts bobbing her head in a slow, exaggerated motion. "Ooh, yeah. I did. She would. Let's do that. Alone. Just us."

She beams happily as Belle takes her hand and tugs her in the direction of the game booths. Ruby backs away, bright smile still on full display.

"Which would also leave you guys alone. Just you."

" _Ruby_ ," Belle sighs.

A bark of laughter and then they're swallowed up into the crowd.

Wow. Every single one of them really done ditched her in two seconds flat, huh?

Clearing her throat, Emma peeks at Regina. "I guess it's a good thing you could make it or I would have been awkwardly third wheeling one of them all night."

Regina's smile is soft. "I guess so."

Emma stuffs her hands into her pockets, offers up a half-shrug. "So, is there something you wanted to check out first?"

"Um," Regina hums. Her gaze flicks from the whirling Spider to the speeding Ring of Fire to the frenetic Salt and Pepper Shaker. She chews on her bottom lip, features drawn. "Whatever you want is fine." 

Oh boy. Emma has to take charge? She'd been planning on tailing the usually assertive Regina around like a duckling until it was game-time. She doesn't have a _pre-plan_ plan.

"Okay," Emma scans the area, hoping for inspiration. Start slow. Something fun but not too intimate. She doesn't think she’s ready to be fused together on something like the Scrambler just yet.

Her attention lands on 1001 Nights whipping through the sky. There's a bit of a line, but with so many seats available turnover will be nice and fast. It looks as good a place to start as any.

"Come on." She jerks her head towards the ride. They head over, managing to slip into the back of the line just before a rowdy bunch of middle schoolers. Emma stuffs her hands into her pockets and leans against the perimeter fence.

Regina stands beside her, shifting between her feet. She keeps craning her neck to get a view of the winding line in front of them, and flinches when the attendant swings open the gate to let in a new batch of kids.

"You okay?" Emma asks as they step forward a few paces to close the distance left behind. At this rate it will be another two rotations before they're let on.

"Mmhmm." Regina's hum is high. Clipped.

"Okay." Emma eyes her. "If you're sure."

The ride swings round and round. There are cheers and shrieks and hollers. Regina doesn't look at it. She seems to find herself unable to tear her eyes away from a bit of old gum trampled into the pavement just ahead of them. When the next batch of riders is let on, Emma has to clear her throat twice before Regina realizes they're supposed to move forward again.

"Are you sure you're-"

"I'm fine."

Emma frowns. Regina is very obviously Not Fine, but it's not like Emma can force her to fess up. Behind them the younger kids jeer at one another and laugh loudly, their grating voices just barely rising over the _whoosh_ and _whirl_ of the ride. With the lights all around them and the bells sounding off, it's admittedly more than a little overstimulating.

Even with all of the chaos though, Emma still makes out the low, pained sound that comes out of Regina as the ride slows to a stop and the attendant moves to release its passengers.

"Okay, you're definitely not fine," Emma challenges.

"I am." The way Regina still won't make full eye contact with her is more telling than anything. "I just- I don't really care for anything that spins fast or goes upside down." She lets out a little squeak of alarm as the attendant opens the gate to let more people through. "It makes me a bit nauseous."

"Nauseous?" Emma repeats, blinking dumbly.

"A _bit_." Regina sounds defensive, but her pout quickly fades as they're ushered forward. She's too busy being completely panicked, it would seem.

"Regina," Emma sighs out in disbelief, "It's a carnival. Ninety-nine percent of it spins fast or goes upside down. Most of it spins fast _while_ going upside down."

"I know," she whines. "That's why I never go to carnivals."

_"Then why are you here?"_

Regina shrugs and mumbles a petulant, "I don't know."

"Uh, guys?" The attendant is at the gate waiting for them to stop holding up the entirety of the line.

"Move it, lady," one of the kids behind them shouts.

Emma shoots him a nasty look.

"You go." Regina backs out of the line. "I'll just wait at the exit."

"I'm not gonna-" Emma loses the rest of the protest in her laughter as she moves to follow. As soon as she's out of the way, the pack of kids floods into the space they left behind, swarming the attendant to shove tickets in the poor man's face. Emma ignores them in favor of Regina. "You could have just told me from the start."

Regina just shrugs again, looking glum.

"Well," Emma sighs, hands in her pockets, "I'm glad I know now before I had you puking all night."

"I wouldn't _puke_ -"

"Sure." Emma fights a smile. It probably wouldn't do her any favors.

"Why don't we just go find the others? We can walk around with them so you have people to ride with. I don't mind waiting."

"No." The last thing in the world Emma wants is to give any of those assholes front row seats to her complete ignorance of romance. "I'm hanging out with you. We can just-" She looks around frantically, on the hunt for anything that might save the night.

She has to keep Regina occupied until eight-thirty. Has to make sure they get on that Ferris Wheel alone, right on time. Her eyes land on pretty much the one thing in the entirety of the joint that doesn't spin fast or flip. She laughs.

"We can just be a little more selective. Come on."

-

"This is for babies." Regina wrinkles her nose at the giant pink slide.

Emma mock gasps. "How dare you call me a baby." She snags a burlap sack from the messy pile at the bottom.

Regina is a bit more selective in her choosing. "Also these are gross."

"It's a carnival. Everything is gross."

When Regina finally deigns to pick one, Emma leads her in the long trudge up to the top of the slide. The attendant here is a man in his young twenties. He leans back in a creaky folding chair, magazine open on his lap while he pops his gum loudly. The way he barely acknowledges them is evidence of how little traffic this particular attraction sees.

"I guess we'll just police ourselves then," Emma stage whispers, and when the man fails to so much as look up from his reading, Regina rolls her eyes.

"I feel so safe."

They spread their sacks out and sit--Regina hesitating for a moment because heaven forbid she sits where someone else may have sat--and then in a couple of scoots they're off.

Sure, it's something for the younger kids. An easy ride for a parent to take while clinging to an unruly toddler. Still, Emma isn't above a breathy laugh of delight when her stomach flutters as she passes over the tiny bumps in the slide.

Her feet touch the mat at the bottom just seconds before Regina's.

"I win," she happily declares, popping up.

Regina sits, blinking up at her. "What?"

Emma grins at her confusion. "I win." She wipes at the back of her jeans before stooping to sling the sack over her shoulder. "The race. I beat you down."

"We were racing? You never said we were racing."

"Yeah," Emma's smile falters, "I mean, that's pretty much what everybody does. That's basically become the whole point."

A very determined look takes over Regina's features. She stands, sack in hand.

Uh oh.

"We're going again."

Oh no. 

-

Emma does her best to swallow past the dryness in her throat. Her legs ache with each agonizing step. How many times has she suffered through this arduous journey?

She's lost count.

Her hands shake as she grips the railing to haul herself along, eyes glued to Regina a good ten steps ahead of her. "I think this competitive streak might be verging on unhealthy," she rasps.

Regina doesn't so much as falter. "That's exactly what I'd expect to hear from the person losing."

-

They don't stop until Emma concedes. Regina downright refuses. 

It's something she might be salty over if not for the fact that Regina looks so damn proud of herself. She's windswept and bright eyed and breathless and the dull throb in Emma's calves is totally worth it. One hundred percent.

They head to the Fun House next. It's too loud and too bright and too _everything_ inside, but there's something about it that speaks to the little kid in Emma.

Sure, it's sort of completely humiliating when she smacks her face into one of the trick mirrors during the labyrinth portion, but the way Regina snorts softens the blow. Mostly because if there is one thing Emma Swan is good at, it’s being able to laugh at herself. Besides, she gets sweet revenge just seconds later when Regina isn't ready for the rollers lining the floor. She falls back against Emma with a breathy sound of surprise, and when Emma laughs at her she wrinkles her nose like she's annoyed until she's laughing too.

It's stupid and fun and Emma feels giddy. Light. Like she wants to glide over the rollers, and stomp on the buzzer that lights up that crazy clown, and show off in the spinning tunnel that separates them from the outside world.

She stretches her arms and braces her limbs, holding herself steady through the slow turn until she's completely upside down. Her arms tremble a bit at the effort but she manages to keep from collapsing. As the tub rolls, she walks her hands along with it like a hamster in a wheel, going nowhere but remaining upright.

"Very impressive," Regina drawls with eyebrows raised, clearly humoring her.

Emma grins in response and doesn't quit until the attendant outside sticks his head through the opening. "Keep it moving, kids," he says in a voice that betrays just how many people he's had to tell to knock this kind of shit off.

Emma laughs and drops gracelessly back to her feet with a _thunk_. It's a little disorienting when she stands, but she manages to make it back onto solid ground without incident.

And when she holds out her hand for Regina to take so she can jump through the rotating platform without making contact and getting herself sick, Regina accepts without hesitation.

-

"I can't believe you spent twenty bucks to hop through a spinning tunnel."

"Shut up. You spent, like, a hundred bucks on a crappy hot dog."

"Woah, woah, woah," Emma splutters, aghast. "Corn dogs are not _just_ hot dogs. They're the evolution of hot dogs. Hot dogs elevated to their most perfect form." She takes a great big chomp out of it just to prove her point.

Regina rolls her eyes. 

They're sitting on top of a picnic table near the main food stand, feet on the bench so they can face the carnival and take in all of the action. Young kids drag exhausted parents by the hand. Older ones travel in tight packs, laughing and ribbing one another, high on enjoying their night unsupervised. And every so often, despite insisting she definitely didn't want any of 'that junk', Regina leans over to steal a nibble of the corn dog.

This is exactly why Emma sprung for the foot long. She's no fool.

"Your friends are staring at us," Regina announces when she settles back.

Emma follows her eyeline. The gang has reunited and is loitering by the exit of the Paratrooper, doing their best to look natural while keeping tabs. When she catches Emma's gaze, Ruby brightens and flashes a hammy thumbs up.

"Oh my god." Emma slaps a hand over her face, groaning.

"They really make an art out of embarrassing you, huh?"

She glares at Regina through her fingers. "Laugh it up. They're your friends now too."

Humming, Regina seems to consider that. "I guess they are." Her features sour. "Except for Mary Margaret."

It's Emma's turn to roll her eyes. "Obviously not."

That should be the end of it, but then-

"Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did David just wink at me?"

For the love of-

"Uh," her cheeks heat, "may-maybe he has something in his eye?"

As if to refute her, David catches _Emma's_ eye this time and winks again, slow and exaggerated. Behind him Belle cranes her neck to get a good look while at her side Mary Margaret tries valiantly-- _futilely_ \--to cover up Ruby's borderline obscene kissy-faces. 

"Okay so how bout we go somewhere not here?" Emma grabs Regina's wrist and tugs her off the picnic table to head in the complete opposite direction of whatever vulgar expression Ruby's currently making. Like hell is she going to die of shame before the fireworks even start. She's come to terms with the fact that it's very likely she's going to die tonight, but she'd at least like to make it halfway through her confession first. That seems reasonable, no?

Scarfing down the last of her snack, Emma pauses at a trash can to throw out the stick. Regina takes the opportunity to slip out of her light grip and adjust them more comfortably so their palms are pressed together. Emma stares down at their hands for a moment, dumbfounded, because the fireworks display hasn't even started yet and this is, like, step _four_ in her plan. But when she looks up for clarification on the fact that it's okay to just skip steps one through three and hold Regina's hand, Regina is looking in the complete opposite direction, glaring at the ring toss booth.

"It's so stupid how they're allowed to do that. They hand living creatures out like candy and don't tell anyone how to properly take care of them."

"Uh, y-yeah," Emma agrees, even if she's finding it pretty hard to focus on goldfish rights at the moment.

Regina shakes her head. "Come on, we know we're definitely not playing this game, at least."

"Right." And Emma blindly follows Regina wherever she leads, gaze fixed on their linked hands.

-

Apparently, Mary Margaret Blanchard isn't the only sappy mess around these parts.

Emma bounces up onto the balls of her feet, trying to get a better view at the impossibly long line stretched out in front of them. Who knew there were even this many people _at_ the carnival? Geez. She glances down at her phone. 8:17. Above her, the Ferris wheel groans to a stop, releasing just two passengers to let a paltry two back on.

At this rate they'll still be on the ground when the show starts.

"We don't have to go on if the wait is annoying you," Regina says, not for the first time.

"I'm good," Emma assures her, pushing up to her toes once more. Not that there's anything new to see, the loading process being as slow as it is.

One of the carnival organizers has a microphone at the other end of the lot. The makeshift sound system is weak, but Emma can just make out his crackly voice trying to gather people up to get ready for the display. Behind him, Families are setting up folding chairs and settling down on the grass with snacks.

She looks at her phone again.

8:19.

The Ferris wheel groans.

Two more people get off.

Two more people get on.

They inch forward in line a half-step.

Fuck.

"Let's just go try to find the others," Regina offers at Emma's groan. "It's not a big deal."

"No!" She says it too sharp. Too fast. Regina studies her, bemused. Emma swallows. "I mean," she clears her throat, shrugs, "we've already waited this long. Might as well stick it out, right?"

"Sure." Regina's still looking at her strangely, but at least she doesn't push.

Emma likes that about her. She looks at her phone again.

8:20.

The Ferris wheel groans.

Two more people get off.

Two more people get on.

They inch forward in line a half-step.

Emma sighs.

-

They're clamoring into the bucket seats just at the tail end of 8:29. By the time they're settled and the attendant has the bar secured across their laps, the first firework has exploded in the sky. A beautiful burst of bright green that showers down over the carnival. 

Okay. Okay. Not ideal, but Emma can work with this. She shifts in her seat as the ride starts up, hands tight around the safety bar. Things might have to move a bit faster than she'd been planning for, but at least now there's plenty of time for them to get to the top and- **_CLUNK_ **.

The wheel grinds to a sudden halt and Emma looks over her shoulder in horror at the bucket behind theirs where another couple is unloading. "Oh no." In front of them the show continues. Fireworks sound, blue and red and a deep purple.

"This is nice," Regina says, attention on the display.

But Emma is too busy frantically trying to decipher how many more seats need to be loaded until their ride can properly start to actually listen to her. Maybe this couple is the last one?

The ride jerks forward into motion. Her spirits rise. It jerks to a stop once more.

 _Why?!?_ Why do bad things-

Jerk into motion.

-happen to-

Jerk to a stop.

-okay-ish people?

Five more fireworks gone.

Two more people on. Two more people off. Fireworks shake the sky, relentless, but now they can't even see them at all because the seat above them is pretty much blocking their whole view and for the love of _god_ this isn't at all like Mary Margaret's stupid fantasy. 

Emma crosses her arms and sinks low in the seat, face burning with a healthy mix of frustration and embarrassment for even trying something so dumb. Like, what did she even _think_ -?

"Emma?" When she looks over she finds Regina studying her once more, bottom lip pulled between her teeth like maybe she's trying not to laugh. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Judging by Regina's snicker, Emma's probably not doing a great job hiding her pout. "Just bummed we're missing the fireworks."

They jerk forward a bit before stopping yet again, seat swinging at the force.

"We can still see them," Regina tries. A burst of scarlet decorates the sky, but the majority of their view is blocked by the couple just ahead of them enthusiastically making out. "Kind of."

Emma wrinkles her nose at the sight. It's mostly gross, and also a little bit rubbing salt in the wound. And, like, she can't just try to kiss Regina _now_. It's going to look like she got the idea from those losers.

"Maybe it's not exactly how you wanted to see them, but it's not that big of a deal, right?"

"Yeah," Emma mutters bitterly, still slouched, "I guess." Heaving a heavy sigh, she looks away. Away from Regina and away from the fireworks and away from that stupid asshole in front of them that looks like he's just about ready to eat his girlfriend's entire face off.

Emma would have had way more game then that dork.

...

Probably.

**_CLUNK_ **

The ride jerks forward one final time and at last, they're off. Rotating at a steady pace, the wheel takes them round and around while the fireworks light up the sky, but it's too little too late. The momentum is gone. The moment they'd spent tonight working towards vanished along with whatever courage Emma had mustered to initiate it.

She feels stupid. Itchy and embarrassed at the way she'd let her mind run away from her. There's no slow motion montage in reality. No nineties pop song playing softly in the background as their eyes meet. It's just awkward and forced and...and dumb. Just plain dumb.

"Emma?" This time Regina doesn't look as amused. Uncertain, more like. Small in the way she sits, in the way she speaks, her words dwarfed by the booms overhead and the cheers below. "Did I do something to annoy you?"

That has Emma sitting straight, popping up fast enough their bucket swings. "What? No. Why?"

"You've been..." Regina shifts, shrugs a shoulder, "standoffish?"

Aw shit.

"No, no. I-"

But it's the grand finale now. The cheering of the crowd picks up into a roar as the sky flashes rapid-fire. Red. Blue. Green. White. All after the other and over again. Emma frowns and wills it to be over, her attention only on Regina.

"You didn't do anything," Emma assures her as soon as the display dies down, the last few stray sparks dissolving in the air. "I promise."

Regina nods, still quiet.

Emma winces. "Did I upset you?"

"Confused me." Regina chips at the peeling paint of the safety bar with the edge of her thumbnail. "I just thought maybe you were annoyed I ruined the whole carnival for you."

"Woah, definitely not." Emma can't get the words out fast enough. Regina thinks tonight hasn't been, like, the best ever, and kissing on the Ferris wheel doesn't even sound all that appealing anymore when all Emma wants is to get her smiling again. "Besides, you don't ever have to worry about making me mad. I get over it in five minutes. Not everyone holds insane grudges."

Regina rolls her eyes, lips pursed. "I was just messing with you a little."

"Well you're very committed to your craft. You put so much effort in I had to skip feeling angry and move right to impressed."

When Regina laughs, her cheeks are a pretty pink, and Emma thinks maybe she hasn't lost her chance after all. Maybe they don't need fireworks when they've got all _this_ right here between them. She licks her lips, scoots a little closer along the seat until their hips are pressed together.

Regina watches her carefully.

Maybe-

Emma swallows. "Regina, I-" 

**_CLUNK_ **

"Oh for fuck's sake!"

Emma leans over the side of their swinging seat. They're close to the peak, and far below the first couple passengers of their rotation are slowly disembarking. She has half a mind to spit on them.

"This is the last time I _ever_ listen to Mary Margaret."

"Emma," Regina's flat out laughing at her now, not even trying to pretend to hold it in, "why are you _so_ mad at the Ferris wheel? Have you never been on one before? Did you not know how they work?"

"No, it's just-" Emma buries her face in her hands, "ugh, nevermind. I'm just stupid and want to get off."

"Okay?" Regina's brow is furrowed, but her amusement is still clear.

Smooth, Emma. Super smooth. 

-

Even after all of _that,_ the worst part winds up being after they get off and head towards the exit to meet up with everyone else. Emma ends up having to lag a few paces behind Regina and frantically makes slashing motions at her neck because they all look _way_ too fucking excited for a group of teenagers looking at a couple of their completely platonic friends who definitely didn't make out on a Ferris wheel.

Luckily they catch on to her not-so-subtle gesturing before anything mortifying is said. Belle presses her lips together in understanding while David flashes Emma a sympathetic smile. Ruby however, seems completely nonplussed about the whole thing. She's working on a bag of pink and blue cotton candy bigger than her head.

Mary Margaret is the only one that doesn't seem able to hide her disappointment. She frowns and gives Emma a surprisingly stern look.

Yikes. She feels like she's in trouble with a teacher.

"You two ready to head out?" David gestures between himself and Mary Margaret. "Our ride is on the way."

Belle moves beside them. "David's mother was kind enough to offer me a ride as well."

"Right," Ruby says in a rather sticky sounding voice, dried sugar all around her lips, "which would leave the kids with me."

"What?" Emma stares at her, eyes wide. "Kids?" This sounds suspiciously like...

"I didn't tell you?" Ruby tilts her head, lips pursed, the picture of innocence. "We were chatting in the hall at school last week and I offered Regina a ride back since I knew it would be late and her mom probably works insane hours all the time." She raises her eyebrows and moves to sling an arm around Emma's shoulders to roughly pull her in tight. For the next part, she lowers her voice so only Emma has the misfortune of hearing it. "Don't tell me you forgot about plan 'B' already?"

There is no God.

-

"We have to take Regina home first."

"But Emma's house is right on-" Granny starts to argue.

"It has to be Regina," Ruby insists. "She's Storybrooke royalty."

"Um, Ms Lucas," Regina offers in a small voice from the back, "I really don't mind if you take Emma home fir-"

"Royalty!" Ruby shouts and turns up the radio so nobody can protest over the noise.

Unfortunately, the old wagon has had the same cassette tape stuck inside it for over a decade. And so they're forced to awkwardly ride on while 2 Become 1 blares around them.

They make it all the way down the track list to Naked before Granny mercifully pulls up to the end of Regina's driveway.

"Thank you for the ride." The fact that Regina already has her seatbelt off before the car even comes to a complete stop betrays her feelings on the Spice Girls.

Or maybe she just doesn't like them when her eardrums are seconds away from bursting.

"Wait," Ruby shouts, turning down the music at last. "Emma, walk her to the door. It's dark out. There could be..." she falters for a moment, then brightens, "hooligans!" 

Emma blinks at her. "Hooligans?"

"Just go," Ruby hisses. "Plan 'B' it up."

"Oh come on," Emma grumbles, but Regina is hunched down in the open doorway, watching her curiously, and so Emma really has no choice but to wrestle herself free from her own seatbelt. "I'm coming, hold on."

Regina looks even more confused, but doesn't protest. She straightens to close the door and lingers at the end of the driveway.

"Go Aladdin," Ruby whispers as she watches Emma scramble out. "Remember, the truth will set you free. Bee yourself!"

Though she's safely on the street, Emma can't resist ducking her head back inside. "Hey, Ruby, for once in your life could you maybe shut the heck up for five seconds?"

"Amen," Granny sighs.

"Hey!" Ruby turns on her grandmother, aghast, and Emma takes the opportunity to slam the door shut.

She grimaces at Regina over the top of the car. "Hi?"

Regina presses her lips together. "Hi."

Emma hurries round to meet her. "I guess we can just," she gestures lamely up the driveway. They start walking, Regina quiet, Emma with her hands deep in her pockets. "Sorry Ruby is...a lot."

"You've met my sister." Regina heaves a tired sigh. "That seemed pretty tame to me."

Emma chuckles. They've made it to the front walk now, and the porch is just a few paces ahead. She's running out of time.

"So," Emma drawls, "this is awkward and unnecessary, huh?"

"A little." Regina hums her amusement. "At least I don't have to worry about hooligans."

"True."

And that's it. They're at the door. Because for all she crowed about her flawless Plan 'B', Ruby clearly hadn't considered the fact that while long, Regina's driveway isn't exactly a lengthy stroll. Emma fights to keep from rolling her eyes at the disaster they've made of the night, instead flashing Regina a soft smile as they reach the front stoop.

"Thanks for coming. Like I said, I would have been third-wheeling it all night without you."

"Right." Regina hesitates on the stoop. She studies Emma for a moment and then, just like last time, quickly steps forward to press a kiss to Emma's cheek. Warm and gentle and barely there. "Goodnight." She turns to hurry up the steps and unlock the door.

Emma's heart picks up in her chest. Her fingers find her cheek.

So this is it.

This is the end. 

One last cheek kiss before the proper start of summer where Regina will move on and forget Emma even exists, and the come back to school next year ready to kiss _other_ cheeks, and Emma is just going to be standing awkwardly in the background with her _unkissed_ cheeks, and maybe Regina'll even get, like, asked out on dates by _other_ people and stuff and Emma will have to watch and then _die_ and-

Oh, fuck it.

"Can I just ask-"

Regina stills, key in the lock but knob untouched.

Emma takes a step forward, clears her throat, then-"You did that last time too." She speaks quickly. Probably too quickly. "Is that like a friend kiss kind of thing or- or like a...more kiss...kind of thing?" Her words falter by the end of the question.

At least she managed a coherent sentence.

Kind of.

Regina glances over her shoulder at Emma and then quickly away. "More kiss?" 

Emma swallows. "More than friends."

Though she turns to face Emma, Regina keeps a wary distance. "Do you want it to be a more kiss?"

"Do you?"

Regina's eyes narrow. "I asked you first."

Damn.

Emma makes a pained sound low in her throat. "I mean, well, maybe. Like, if you wanted." She shrugs. Tugs at her ear. "Yeah. Kinda." She winces. "Is that okay?"

Little betrays itself on Regina's face. She watches Emma for a long, painful moment and then gives a stiff, businesslike nod. "I suppose it could be a more kiss."

A great whoosh of relief comes from Emma unbidden. The tight knot of tension in her chest finally popping like a balloon. "Really?" She brightens. "Cool." It's a little embarrassing, knowing the heat in her cheeks is likely visible even with only the dim light from the porch lamps there to illuminate them. And she hates it when she smiles like this. One so broad and big and present that it's a struggle to reign it in.

Regina smiles too though, and that makes it slightly less humiliating.

Emma dares a step forward. Her heart feels like it's high in her chest, her gut prancing about just below it. This is all so foreign, so fast, but still-

She licks her lips. "Could we-" another step, "Do you wanna try it, like, for real?"

Regina's gaze flits back to her house one final time before resting steadily on Emma. Her answer comes in the few cautious steps forward she takes, and it's a relief seeing her at the edge of the stoop, fingers twisting nervously together. She looks just as anxious as Emma feels, blood pounding in her ears, palms clammy.

Emma wonders, as she meets Regina in the middle, inching closer than they've ever been before, just what it will feel like when the--

**_WHAM_ **

_"Gaaaaaaaaay!"_ Zelena stands in the now open doorway, eyes absolutely shining, overshadowed only by the brilliance of her manic grin.

Regina whips around, face beet red and foot petulantly stomping. "What is wrong with you? Why do you have to ruin _everything?_ "

"Oh hello, Emma dear." Cora appears behind her daughter. "Did you have a good night?"

Emma stares, reeling from the whiplash of it all. "Yes, Mrs. Mills," she squeaks. "Thank you."

"That's nice." Cora's expression remains completely serene despite the fact that a foot away from her, Zelena stands cackling, her sister trapped in a headlock.

Regina squirms and whines in protest. "Let me go! Why are you always like this?"

"You love it."

"Would you like to come in?" Cora smiles as though Regina isn't currently trying to angle herself in an obvious effort to get a good kick at Zelena's shin. 

"Oh, I've got, uh," Emma loses her train of thought a bit at the rowdy display in front of her. She winds up gesturing weakly over her shoulder at the car where Ruby waits, nose pressed against the window to soak in the drama of it all.

"Ah, I see. Well then, safe trip home."

"Thanks." Emma shuffles back a step as Cora disappears back into the house, not sure if she should just leave them to it or...

"Wait," Zelena shouts with such manic glee Emma wonders if maybe she and Ruby might make good friends one day, "you wanna see her again, right? I know she’s a nerd but she’ll literally die if you don’t ask her out again." 

"Stop!" Regina cries, struggling harder, but Zelena doesn't so much as flinch.

She keeps Regina pinned to her side with the practiced ease of someone who has done this many times over the years. "She's free every day of the week because she's a massive loser with no friends."

"Mom!" Regina whines, distraught as she's easily overpowered.

"Regina, darling, you know I have absolutely no control over her," comes Cora's distant reply.

It shouldn't be possible, but Zelena's grin only widens. "How does next Friday sound? Seven. You can have a cute little dinner just like the grownups!"

"Stop talking to her. I hate you."

"Uh, I actually am free Friday," Emma says quickly because it looks like Regina's winding up to slam a painful elbow into Zelena's unsuspecting ribcage. Nobody needs to see the aftermath of that. "I mean," Emma shifts her attention from Zelena to Regina, "if you want."

The sisters go still.

It's a bit awkward. You know, with Zelena standing there snickering and Regina still trapped, craning her neck to look at Emma. She's clearly torn. Wants to say yes but loathes the fact that Zelena had anything to do with the proposal at all.

She must take too long to work through the conflict though, because Zelena steps in smoothly with a smug, "Fantastic. It's a date."

And then Regina is dragged inside and Emma gets a door to the face.

Well, then. Emma can't help but laugh to herself as she backs towards the car.

It's a date. 

-

Badass warrior princess Emma Swan is an unstoppable beast. She hacks through her enemies without hesitation, cutting them down before they can even think about fighting back. Knights and rogues alike quiver in fear as soon as she takes to the-

"Oh my god, guys, are you even paying attention?"

"We could use a little guidance out here, oh fearless leader!"

"Regina, I think a flame barrier would be helpful if you'd just..."

"Man down! Man down!"

"Emma, come on. You're not even pretending to-"

She should probably feel bad for pushing her laptop to the side, but Regina's kissing her again so... Like yeah, that Goblin King guy they're trying to take down is supposed to have some ultra rare loot in the chest behind his throne of ancient bones, but Emma also has a petty, over-dramatic girlfriend in her bed that she's totally allowed to kiss whenever she wants.

And, really, isn't that the rarest loot of all?

"That's it," Ruby's sharp voice nearly blows out her laptop speakers, "both of you are cancelled!"

_SwanPrincess24 has fainted_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around if you have! I know there isn't a capital 'P' Point to this one but sometimes it's nice to make something that's soft and easy to digest, you know? Too many Serious Themes can be bad for the soul, that's what I say! Anyways, thanks a bunch if you stuck it out with me. See ya soon :)


End file.
